Summary

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a private meeting inadvertently broadcast via a hot mic, warned that Donald Trump is seriously considering annexing Canada to secure its critical mineral resources.

Speaking to business and labor leaders, Trudeau claimed Trump’s administration is keenly aware of Canada’s resource wealth and sees annexation as a means to control it.

The comments, cut off after staff realized they were audible, underscore growing economic and political tensions.

He also stressed the need to diversify trade, noting, “Geography means we’re always going to both benefit and be challenged by trade with the United States.”

  • shittydwarf@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    15 hours ago

    The fact that that your comment even makes a bit of sense is so completely fucked. Of course I don’t speak for everybody but I think it’s fair to say that most Canadians do not want to be a nuclear power. We do not want to hurt or threaten anyone, particularly our American brothers? When Pearl Harbour was attacked we declared war on Japan before America did ffs… shit is fucked up down there

    • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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      13 hours ago

      When Pearl Harbour was attacked we declared war on Japan before America did

      Must be nice having allies like that. Those are the kind of friends you should hold on to and not inflict ridiculous tariffs on or anything like that.

    • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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      14 hours ago

      Unfortunately, this is not about what Canada wants. This is about what Canada needs. I do not want Canada to have to build a nuclear arsenal either. Realize, I am advocating for the construction of nuclear weapons that will be pointed at my own head. THAT is fucked up. I do not make this recommendation lightly.

      Reality check. 90% of the Canadian population lives within 150 miles of the US border. An M1 Abrams tank can drive that distance in an afternoon. The Canadian military is woefully unprepared to resist such an advance. The Canadian military is not designed to resist the might of the US. It’s designed to provide some valuable but niche roles as part of the NATO alliance. And this is not some failure to plan on the part of my Canadian brothers. Frankly, Canada was never going to be able to develop such a capability. Canada has approximately 12% of the population of the US, and a vast territory to defend. Even if Canada become as militaristic as North Korea, Canada simply does not have the resources to develop the capability to militarily resist the US using conventional arms.

      Do you think an alliance will save you? NATO membership means nothing in this context. When an outside country invades a NATO member, they can activate Article 5. However, nothing happens automatically. The NATO members then must convene to formulate a response, and any single member can veto the resolution. Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have fought several armed conflicts while both being NATO members. NATO will not be coming to save you.

      The Commonwealth? Could you dust that thing off and appeal to King Charles for aid? I’m sure he’ll send his dearest sympathies, but the redcoats will not be coming to save you this time. Compare the stats of the US Navy to the Royal Navy and let me know how that would go. I’m sure the Royal Navy’s 160 aircraft will be a formidable match for the US Navy’s 2600. We could also look at other military branches. But the disparities would be similar, and the forces of King Charles would have no way to get to Canadian soil. I’m sorry to say, but 1812 was a very long time ago. The forces of King Charles would struggle to resist, with conventional arms, a US invasion of the UK mainland. Realistically, if the UK wanted to offer any meaningful assistance to Canada, it would have to come in the form of thermonuclear weaponry.

      What about the EU? Could Canada join the EU? Would that save you? First, it takes years to join the EU. But even if you could waive a magic wand and join tomorrow? The EU does have the population and economy to potentially stand up to the US. But they don’t have the defense sector necessary. There is no vast EU expeditionary army that is going to sail across the Atlantic and go to-to-toe against the US Army and Marines. There is no formidable EU Navy that’s going to serve as a credible threat to the Americans. In time, the EU could build that capability. But we’re talking, extremely optimistically, a decade to spin up that magnitude of a military industrial complex. US army soldiers will be fishing on the northern coast of Nunavut before the EU parliament even passes the budget appropriations.

      Could Canadian irregulars resist the advance? Canada is not some war-torn country in the Middle East that has had insurgent fighting going on for decades. There isn’t some vast network of Canadian insurgent groups with the skills and resources to build improvised explosives and knowledgeable of insurgent tactics. There aren’t thousands of guerilla fighters that might credibly slow down a US invasion. How many suicide bombings has Canada had in the last year? Canada is not Iraq or Syria. I have no doubt that a fierce resistance movement would eventually develop after a US invasion. But irregulars would not be able to actually prevent such an invasion.

      If Canada wants to actually deter a US invasion, they need to consider a domestic nuclear arsenal now. They should have considered it the moment Trump started talking about annexation. Canada should negotiate with Britain or France to have British or French weapons stationed on Canadian soil. And that would provide a meaningful deterrent while Canada develops their own arsenal.

      Now, the French or UK arsenals cannot come close to matching that of the US. Combined they have 500 warheads, while the US has 5,000. But nuclear weapons are the great equalizer of international politics. Even 50 nuclear warheads on Canadian soil would successfully deter any potential US invasion. It would mean that whatever the US might hope to gain from invading Canada would be dwarfed by what the US would lose in the conflict.

      Sorry for the long response. But TLDR, Canada is hopelessly outmatched against the US in conventional military forces, and there is no realistic way its allies will be able to defend it using conventional weapons. A nuclear arsenal is the only way for Canada to ensure its survival as a nation against a US gone mad. And I write this as an American.

      • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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        13 hours ago

        An M1 Abrams tank can drive that distance in an afternoon.

        Just one thing…

        No, it can’t. Took us 16 days to drive a squadron of them from Kuwait to Baghdad. Most of the time they spent on flatbed tractor trucks, because of the a) fuel consumption per mile (Like 15 gallons per mile or so) and b) maintenance. Those things throw tracks bad on asphalt. But, they slow down a lot on dirt.

        • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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          10 hours ago

          OK, I just looked up the top speed and divided by the distance, but there may be logistics issues that make that impossible. But really, 2 weeks or an afternoon? It makes little difference.

    • wisely@feddit.org
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      13 hours ago

      Might help to remember he is at war with everyone who isn’t far right, even citizens. Canada is seen as a country of liberals. Your conservative party could fit in with some of the democrats that he calls far left lunatics.

      He is open to doing things like denying disaster relief to blue states for not voting for him and sending in the military to force them into enforcing hate.

      With him there is no moral standard or relationship that matters besides if he can personally profit off of you. If he knows he can do anything to you and there is nothing you can do about it he will exploit that. It’s not about ties between countries but ties between your country and him personally.

      His support is a little less than a third of the country. The majority of Americans still look at Canadians as close friends.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      14 hours ago

      When Pearl Harbour was attacked we declared war on Japan before America did ffs… shit is fucked up down there

      I had not heard that.

      At the point in history their government was working at least as well as ours (for good or evil), so I don’t know what conclusion to draw.

      • shittydwarf@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        14 hours ago

        I’m not an expert in WWII but by that point Canada had been at war in Europe for a few years already, and America was trying to stay out of it. I guess it took a day or two for the sleeping giant to wake up, or something to that effect

          • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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            13 hours ago

            No, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Canada and Britain declared war on Japan before the US did.

            Interestingly, though the United States suffered the most casualties and damage from Japan’s multiple attacks on December 7 (December 8 in Japan and east Asia), the American government wasn’t the first to declare war on the Japanese Empire. Even before President Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve a declaration of war, both Britain and Canada had declared war on the Imperial nation on December 7, 1941.

            https://pearlharbor.org/blog/declarations-war-pearl-harbor/