Why Canada Backwards?

All Comes Down To NATO

Many, including myself, are trying to figure out why Trump keeps haranguing Canada. Part of the reason is Canada has always sought exploitive ways to sell resources to the United States as they have plenty of resources from lumber to oil. At the same time, they are considered “Benadict Arnolds” of the efforts towards American Independence. But I am convinced Trump is looking at a different map.

Canada is part of the National Atlantic Treaty Organization known as NATO. Trump has repeatedly called upon NATO nations to bolster military defense. Who is falling heavily behind in doing so? Canada.

From https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/nato-spending-by-country

Countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Canada are far below where they need to be in contributing to NATO. This funding is important in confronting Russia’s invassion of Ukraine. Canada has proven to be a fair weather friend and willing to run at the moment of alarm, at least sometimes.

If you wonder why Trump keeps pushing to acquire Greenland, look at how Canada and Denmark simply do not have the military strength and will to confront Russia or any other adversary. They also do not contribute what they could to NATO in regards to their own GDP (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/11/how-much-does-each-nato-country-spend-in-2024).

What I find complexing is Trump does not reveal his cards, but if you merely do an evaluation of the situation in real, pragmatic terms, suddenly everything falls into place.

Yes, Canadians are very upset with Trump but eventually they will have to realize Trump is making a point, and Canada will make amends to address it. This will not happen overnight. Canada will go through economic turmoil but over time, many will question their own hatred of Trump and wonder why accomodation was not sought.

The election of Mark Carney will not last very long. You cannot build an agenda on merely hating the United States President while not addressing how Trump is willing to cripple your economy to get you to fold to his will and concerns. Eventually, Canada will lament and try to pave over the dispute. In many ways, they have no better options.

To Canada, we US citizens were never your enemy, and we were never the best of friends, but we will always be great neighbors. We know each other and care about each other, but as a US citizen, when your son comes over into our yard, and eats an apple from the tree, and pauses to pee on our lawn, we sense, there has always been some will to show each other an insult or disrespect. Hang tough my Canadian friends. The USA is Republic and eventually will have a new president, but he will likely do as Trump did, because the USA has demands to met. You need to confront where they real challenge are at.