Most of Canada’s oil is heavy oil that doesn’t compete well with the lighter oil on international markets due to difficulty in transportation and refining. It is shipped to the US by train, and refined in the US which has costs associated with it. I couldn’t find a source saying that Canada would be 20% better shipping to our other export targets like the EU. I’m willing to be taught a lesson by such sources.

I’m guessing you’re arguing that trade with the US makes drugs expensive. Canada protects drug prices as part of our single-payer system. We negotiate prices nationally and thus pay close to what other OECD nations pay. Re: patents - I could very well be missing something, but wouldn’t such patents exist regardless of trade agreements? If we could buy generic analogs of patented drugs then surely we can regardless of patents. If we can’t get generic analogs then how does cancelling trade agreements make patented drugs cheaper? If you are just saying that US big pharma sucks then I totally agree, but I don’t see how ending our agreements fixes that.

Americanization of media and culture isn’t just a Canadian problem that stems from our close relationship to the US. Things like radicalization and swings towards autocracy are happening in democracies (and other systems) all around the world regardless of level of direct US influence. I don’t think it’s fair at all to say that if we didn’t associate with the US that our society would be free from US-style problems.

I can see that NAFTA has caused instances of ignoring environmental damage. I will say that as far as I can tell by looking it up, the Lone Pine Resources v. Canada case was decided against the corporation, in which case the destruction you mention was not allowed. “On November 21, 2022, the NAFTA tribunal found that revocation of mining rights around the St. Lawrence river did not amount to an expropriation, considering that Claimant retained other mining rights. Tribunal majority also dismisses MST claim.” Unless I’m reading that wrong (definitely a possibility) in that case NAFTA officials actually stopped environmental damage. Plus let’s face it, provinces like Alberta and Ontario do not need NAFTA pressure at all to make large-scale environmentally harmful choices. I’m not convinced Canada would have refused to exploit resources if free trade wasn’t a thing.

As far as the relationship being shit, there’s a lot of experts who say it’s beneficial. If nothing else it has created TONS of jobs for Canadians and been a bedrock of our economy across many sectors.

I can definitely see what you’re saying, and you seem to be hoping for the best and planning for the worst. Which is reasonable. I don’t disagree with you but I’d add to the conversation:

• There is meaningful resistance even now, weeks into the Trump’s idiocy. Just today in the headlines on Lemmy we have judges blocking his orders, 20 states suing him for overreach, and citizens protesting. I think this resistance is bound to increase (in terms of size and urgency) as people start to see their family suffering/dying because of things like the social security payment collapse some experts are predicting.
• American businesses are pushing back to get tariffs delayed or stopped completely and that pressure is only going to increase as economic consequences roll in. Trump can lie all he wants about how great things will be but big money isn’t about to sit around while they become less big money.
• Regardless of whether they exist as the USA or something else, there’s about 345 million people south of our border in the US. Many of whom are economically tied to us and us to them. I’m not sure it’s realistic to aim for a zero relationship situation or even a minimal one. It’s a huge market, intertwined with ours, very close to our population centres and we’re going to fall into either a beneficial or hostile relationship with a nation 10x the size of ours. I think we need to strive hard at a good relationship while simultaneously demanding respect.

Yet again, zero response to the sovereignty or economic realities I’ve argued for. If you want to continue arguing the post substance, not one-line zingers from one of the most evil men of the last 100 years.

If you’re relying on Henry Kissinger for advice I have no common ground to advance the conversation with. Also, that quote addresses none of the points I’ve made about either sovereignty or economics, and isn’t the dunk you appear to think it is.

You are right that Trump/Musk are destroying America. You are wrong that they are unopposed because they certainly are in Canada, in many other parts of the world, and yes, inside the US. Re: the stakes - the USA is not taking over Canada, period. They are causing a lot of economic harm, but telling Americans they’re trash people that need to fuck off en masse does absolutely nothing to repair that damage. No matter what Trump tries to tell you and everyone else, this trade war is not popular among almost anyone. So what we do is keep on telling Trump to go fuck himself along with all those people, just as our nation is doing now.

If Americans do disappear and stop having a relationship with Canada as you suggest a HUGE number of Canadians are going to suffer. The only way to prevent that is to fight back as much as necessary and then work to restore the engine that keeps all those Canadians and Americans afloat. Basically as Canadians we need to stay the course, punish the US for it’s betrayal, strengthen ties elsewhere, but then also be open to reconciliation. Being toxic and vengeful is not going to help citizens of either country.

Nah, you’re clearly not paying attention or wilfully ignoring whatever doesn’t fit your position. It’s not even all MAGA folks that want to break up our national relationship and basically no one outside MAGA wants to at all. Even staunch conservatives are calling this the dumbest trade war ever. I think there’s a lot of indication that most American citizens and especially many businesses want cooperation with Canada.

I hope your claimed real-world attempts are more meaningful than what I’m seeing from you in this post, because blanket insults posted online do not count. I get that you’re disgusted and angry, but you are not being constructive and there are better ways to tell people you are angry. If you are sick of being constructive and/or acknowledging the benefits of Canada-USA friendship then you should probably take a break from news/social media.

I am another Canadian btw.

As another Canadian: I hate your government, your oligarchs, and your fascists. The US government has had terrible and negligent policies for much longer than the last 2 months. It’s just now there’s not even attempts to mask it and not nearly enough official resistance to it. I think there’s a good chance we’re all witnessing the implosion of America as it’s gutted beyond recognition as the same entity it was. I can empathize with what is, frankly, a rant from in4apenny even as I downvoted their post.

However I have many American friends I do NOT hate, and who do not hate me or covet my country. I do NOT agree with the “fuck everyone, you’re all a blight” position. I could write for much longer about why, but the most important bit is for many decades our countries have been stronger for being allies. If I want Canada to be the greatest nation it can be I have to recognize the contribution of a friendly USA that existed basically uninterrupted until two months ago. I 100% support the “elbows up, fight back hard” movement that is sweeping my nation, but with an eye for historical context of shared success. I hope for a return to that friendship when/if you folks manage to restore sanity. But that restoration is either going to be very messy or not happen at all, so we’ll see if the elbows ever get to come down again.

Absolutely. Again, Israel has never broken step with systemic oppression of Palestinians. I’m not a Rabin fan, but those years are still the closest instance I know of anyone considering peace. Even the stance you quote with all it’s flaws and prejudices were enough to get him killed.

They killed him because he was Palestinian, and Zionists hate Palestinians. It’s like asking why the KKK would harass minorities. The modern state of Israel was literally founded with hatred for Palestinians as a core value and that has not changed in the decades since. The closest anyone ever got to peace with Palestine was Yitzhak Rabin in the mid-90’s and he was assassinated by another Israeli for daring to take a step towards co-existence.

The US wouldn’t stop military aid to Israel while the IDF destroyed hospitals and killed children and journalists among many other war crimes. They will freeze aid to Ukraine as it defends itself in a war of conquest. Evidence suggests the USA would rather align with criminals like Putin and Netanyahu than war victims.

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Bullet vending machines? Just in case you find yourself running low on bullets while out and about in the city? “Damn it. They’re out of Snickers bars so I guess I’ll just settle for some 9mm.”

That headline is crazy, but then I read the article. Thank goodness it’s not a mainstream idea and even other politicians are vocally telling this guy to pump the brakes. I don’t think it ever even made it to a formal policy proposal. I suppose that one politician wants to speedrun the decline of Japan or something.

Israel is the type of control-heavy far-right state other dictators wish they could govern, and it’s made possible by Western money and technology (I was going to name just the US but my country of Canada, among others, is not blameless either). This news also sucks because there’s no way that tech is staying in Israel only. Citizens of the world better brace for convictions via AI facial recognition.

“Our computer model was able to reconstruct this image of the defendant nearly perfectly. It got the hands wrong and one eye is off-center, but otherwise that’s clearly them committing the crime.”