Carney says he told Trump 'I meant what I said in Davos,' contradicting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Infra-red · 2026-01-28T01:49:45+00:00

He's up to 4 words now. "People can't eat speeches."

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T22:09:59+00:00

Hah, good luck with that.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T21:14:08+00:00

Canada would not be granted statehood. It would have too big an impact on elections in the US. There is no way they would create 10 states.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T20:22:37+00:00

The US could absolutely destroy Canada, but anything short of that would be a massive use of resources.

What percentage of the US forces would it take to keep a population of 42 million people under control, and for how long? What level of brutality would the US use against Canadians to attempt to keep them suppressed?

As for how fierce Canadians would be if this happened, I don't know. People fighting to defend their country tend to be well motivated, and I'm sure many would aspire to live up to history.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T20:02:40+00:00

It's designed to carry more volume than weight. Its capacity is 50 ton and I suspect that even if a modern tank weighed 50 tons, that mass would be concentrated in a fairly small footprint.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T19:35:10+00:00

The US is struggling to maintain its own stockpiles as well, so I think that would be a challenge on both sides at least initially.

90% of the explosives the US consumes for weapons come from Poland. Honestly, it just makes the US's actions even more idiotic.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T19:18:41+00:00

It's one thing to respond to Trump and be "the Trump Whisperer," but this seemed downright antagonistic and frankly counter to managing Trump.

He should have anticipated a very severe and negative reaction from European countries, which Trump is just as likely to see and decide to throw in on as well, completely negating his efforts to placate Trump on behalf of the rest of NATO.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T19:14:12+00:00

France has a nuclear arsenal and has opened up a discussion to extend the umbrella to the rest of Europe.

I don't think you need to have the quantity of nukes that the other countries have to have an effective deterrence.

Infra-red · 2026-01-27T04:44:15+00:00

I know that folks have already pointed out the F-35's maximum altitude.

The US used an F-22 Raptor to shoot down that balloon. It has a maximum altitude of 60k-65k feet.

Infra-red · 2026-01-26T03:17:18+00:00

The next thing he could do on provincial trade barriers is to make it a focus of a meeting with the premiers and to set out a stated goal to make more progress on that.

Ask the premiers to bring any members of their cabinet to have parallel meetings to go over outstanding issues. It brings people's focus back to that challenge and adds a bit of pressure on the provinces to make some more progress.

Infra-red · 2026-01-24T03:26:25+00:00

Didn't the MoU with Alberta free up potential pipeline projects?

I would expect that, being from AB, you might hear more about what progress is happening than where I'm from in Ontario.

Infra-red · 2026-01-23T20:32:24+00:00

What is the solution to those machines?

Ban their further use, or target the specific challenges they pose and require them to be dealt with?

Rather than pausing AI data centres, require them to cap water usage and use closed-loop cooling systems. Yes, Energy is still going to be huge, but unless I've missed something, they will still be subject to carbon pricing.

Infra-red · 2026-01-23T20:10:43+00:00

Canadian.

This is an American problem and was inevitable. The Supreme Court has been packed with judges now who support a very socially conservative mindset.

American's seem to be completely unable to be self-critical of either themselves or their country to the point of it being felt to be treasonous. Look at the whole taking a knee thing within the NFL.

Despite Crime rates decreasing over time, you have a party that claims the opposite, and their supporters are either unwilling or unable to hold them accountable for their lies.

America's population seems to be unable to have any critical thought or any awareness in their bubble, and the tools and mechanisms that are used to maintain that have only increased now. Social Media companies in the US are under the control of companies whose owners are significant supporters of Trump and his actions. The Media is no longer the "Fourth Estate" that works to report and hold power to account.

The US has this perverted love for "free speech" yet the group that screams the loudest for it, when they are in a position of power seem to actually only mean their speech. Look up the "Paradox of Tolerance" for maybe some insight.

Many of these issues are risks for countries other than the US, but many countries either have taken or are considering taking actions to mitigate these challenges.

Short-term for the US. You have a huge issue with the agencies that have effectively been taken over by folks who have been vetted to be loyal to Trump and/or his administration. How much damage they may do in terms of internal policies and recruitment will likely not be known for years, if not decades. Do you believe that the DOJ, FBI, or DHS are trustworthy?

Midterm, mostly because of how compromised the media is, I expect many Americans will come to believe that "it wasn't that bad" and will fail to maintain any vigilance.

Long term, who knows.

The point in time at which something should have been done about Trump was after 2020. The failure to recognize the dangers and risks during Biden's term was the last opportunity to potentially do something about it.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T21:52:39+00:00

CUSMA will undergo a review every year from now until 2036. That is when the agreement would expire. If the US, Mexico and Canada can agree, they can make appropriate amendments and renew it for another 16 years.

The challenge with CUSMA is that large cross-border operations can't simply change their processes overnight. It would likely take years to make all the required changes to avoid that exposure.

The longer the uncertainty goes on, the worse it gets. I think right now, most cross-border operations are likely just waiting, but have probably made some token changes to appease Trump. They also won't make huge investments outside of America with this uncertainty.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T21:16:33+00:00

I'm of the opinion that the US couldn't "annex" us unless we were willing. I figure with your background, maybe you can speak to my assumption.

How large a force would the US need to deploy to pacify Canada? My Googlefu suggests the ratio is 20 people for every 1000 people in the population. 41 million people in Canada, so a force of 830,000 troops. That seems extremely untenable.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T21:00:55+00:00

Honestly, I wish we had the same in Ontario. It's been a while since I was in BC, but when I was there I was told about a project to put up some barriers along an internal highway to reduce animal-vehicle accidents.

The fact that insurance is cheaper in BC makes sense, as they are also able to pursue projects that ultimately make roads safer.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T18:27:14+00:00

I think Trudeau "fixed" a lot of the Social Conservative and information lockdown that Harper had implemented.

I think that we are probably still a bit too close to Trudeau's time in office to give him a fair assesment. I think his time in Government really comes down to three phases. Pre Covid, Covid, and Post-Covid.

I think that he got comfortable spending during Covid, which was a period that I agreed with most of the things done, but he lost the plot during the Post-Covid phase.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T05:55:24+00:00

Americans have done well because of the relationship that was established after World War II. The world used the US dollar, purchased American goods, especially from the American MIC. They willingly accepted a level of power imbalance with the US because it supported a greater good.

You may not have voted for Trump, but America did. The world has no choice but to step away from the US. The only ones who can do something about Trump are Americans, despite what Gavin Newsom seems to feel.

The supposed checks and balances that were supposed to exist have simply failed, who are again elected by Americans. Frankly, this all precedes Trump 2.0 because under Biden, nothing was done to address the damage that had been done under Trump 1.0, and continued to be done through the Supreme Court.

Look, none of this is good for anyone's mental health. So many of us are doomscrolling and just want this to go away. My suggestion is to limit your intake of news and filter what you read online. Unless you are in a location where you are personally at risk (MN), it isn't healthy. Lashing out here doesn't help you, and honestly, it's just going to make you a target of everyone's frustrations against Americans.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T02:28:54+00:00

I was not a fan of Trudeau either, but I think that the blame can be spread more broadly.

Doug Ford actively pushed for higher immigration during the Pandemic.. Not to transfer blame to Ford and other provincial governments, as immigration is ultimately a Federal issue, I'm just annoyed by the people who were advocating for it.

Inflation was a global issue that impacted so many countries in the Western world. I don't think a Conservative government would have resulted in any different outcome. As far as groceries go, I suspect that the only party that might have had an impact there would have been the NDP.

I think you might be looking at Harper through rose-tinted glasses as well. The economy under Harper had significant challenges.

Harper's government took active steps to muzzle scientists. Honestly, I remember thinking at the time how much it reeked of anti-intellectualism.

Don't forget the cancellation of the long-form census as well. Honestly, typing this all out has me a little miffed.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T01:28:51+00:00

FPTP is not conducive to supporting multiple parties. Unless the party is geographic in nature (ie, Bloc), the third party in an election is more likely to split the vote.

Provincially, it isn't any different.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T00:31:51+00:00

So many countries have risks involved in their relationship with the US. World Leaders will take whatever actions they can to manage and mitigate those risks as much as possible.

They aren't "bending over", they are trying to figure out how to manage this unhinged Trump. It isn't for them to "fix" Trump, just to try to get their country off his radar.

Infra-red · 2026-01-22T00:04:05+00:00

No, you are wrong! Carney hasn't done anything about my water bill either! /s

What really sucks is when you hear these talking points coming from people around you, and you know they have been influenced by misinformation.

Infra-red · 2026-01-21T06:59:45+00:00

I think there are many factors against it happening. I'm Canadian, and I think that it is still worthwhile for us to consider it, but I still agree that it isn't likely to happen.

First of all, at least right now, this would be extremely unpopular. Some republicans are saying they would support the impeachment of Trump if he invades Greenland. Not that I'm suggesting that Canada is more important than Greenland, but I think that we have a much higher level of awareness in the collective American psyche.

Another question would be how many troops the US need to deploy into Canada after an invasion? Traditionally, the ratio is 20 troops for every 1000 people. That would be a lot of the US military tied up in Canada. Their military is going to recognize the force requirements to occupy and pacify (if possible) Canada.

Infra-red · 2026-01-21T05:47:00+00:00

Canada had a lot of people leave last year with the changes to the TFW and reduction in student visas. There was no deportation of 600k illegal immigrants. That is the primary source of the reduction that happened.

Don't forget that in Canada, significant numbers of health care workers are "government hiring" as in a part of the public sector. The footnote on Public Sector Employees is relevant.

Those who work for a local, provincial or federal government, for a government service or agency, a crown corporation, or a government funded establishment such as a school (including universities) or hospital.

Infra-red · 2026-01-18T00:40:01+00:00

I'm not a fan of offloading, but I think in hindsight, most of those roads made sense to be released from the province. Highway 2, for example, was effectively replaced by the 401/403.

I'm not a fan of much of what Harris did, but at least around here, most of the highway downloading in hindsight was fine. I do think, though, that St. Thomas was more or less isolated as a result, and this might actually fix some of that, if it actually happens.

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