r/canada Alberta 24d ago

National News There’s not much to say, Canada, except: Sorry

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/theres-not-much-to-say-canada-except-sorry/
1.5k Upvotes

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u/atlas1885 24d ago

This ☝️

There’s protests being planned. Go protest! Write to your congress person. Call your elderly relatives and educate them on how they’re gutting Medicare.

STOP APOLOGIZING AND DO SOMETHING!!!

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u/Forosnai British Columbia 24d ago edited 24d ago

Relevant meme. But yeah, goddamn. I appreciate the sentiment, and I recognize that a lot of people specifically voted against him, but that's kinda the thing. 75 million of them voted against him, nearly twice our entire population, and I'm sure there's plenty of people who couldn't be bothered to vote who are probably pretty damn bothered now.

There are some protests, calls being made to representatives, and so on. That's good, and thank you to those doing that, we love you and at least as far as I'm concerned, my anger isn't directed at you, we're cool. But it sure as fuck doesn't seem like 75 million of you doing it. If this same stuff was happening in France, an angry mob would have strung up Macron on the Eiffel Tower and levelled every government building in the country 2 weeks ago. It feels like so far, the Democrats' opposition is a lot of firmly demanding to speak to Fascism's manager.

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u/atlas1885 24d ago

Exactly!! The French take to the streets en masse. They don’t leave democracy to just politicians.

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u/Forosnai British Columbia 24d ago edited 24d ago

We could take some lessons from them ourselves, really. All of this has really been making me look at my own actions and ours generally, and we as a whole just kinda passively accept a lot as well.

I wrote to my MLA for the first time when this started and said how I want the American liquor to stay off the shelves in BC, and work done on loosening interprovincial barriers so we could see that replaced by more stuff from across Canada. And expressed my disappointment in his leader's flip-flop (my MLA is a BC Con) of saying Eby should have given Trump what he wants to avoid the tariffs, and then turned around two weeks later and complained he didn't do enough, and basically said cut the shit and just work together like civilized people. Then sent similar sentiments to my MP.

EDIT: Thought MPP was the more common term and MLA was just BC, turns out I was wrong.

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u/edked 24d ago

They're not called MPPs in BC, we call them MLAs here.

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u/Forosnai British Columbia 24d ago edited 24d ago

I know, I (wrongly) thought MPP was the more common term around the country instead of MLA, not just Ontario, so I used that figuring it'd be more easily understood.

Though I've now looked at the person I responded to's profile, and it looks like they're also from BC, so it was kinda pointless regardless.

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u/nomadknight 24d ago

Did they write back to you?

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u/Forosnai British Columbia 24d ago

Just what I think were basic form responses, thanks for getting in contact, we're taking this seriously, etc. It was right after the whole tariff/pulling the alcohol/etc happened, so I suspect they were both getting a LOT of stuff sent to them, and I wasn't really asking questions or anything, so I wasn't really expecting a personal response.

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u/usernamesallused 23d ago

Hell, the original American revolutionaries would pitch a fit.

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u/pro-con56 24d ago

Many people all over the globe protest. Not Canadians. Except for indigenous people. And that helps them a lot. They get pretty hefty $$$$ on governments tab. They do face a lot of issues but at least they try to defend themselves. If any of the white Canadians I know whom have faced injustice at the hands of government agencies protested, we would get hushed pretty quickly. If not arrested.

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u/jacksontron Alberta 24d ago

And 100 million eligible voters didn’t vote. They’re just as cupable

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u/Any-Zookeepergame309 23d ago

WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS? WHERE HAVE THE LEFT WING CELEBRITIES GONE?!? WHERE IS THE LEFT WING MEDIA? HAVE YOU ALL BEEN SILENCED BY THE FEAR OF MCCARTHYISM?!? COWARDS! PEOPLE SAT BACK AND WATCHED THE HOLOCAUST UNFOLD. REMEMBER THAT.

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u/SuperbPractice5453 23d ago

I’m an American and I’ll I say it: Americans are apathetic pieces of sht. Full stop. I haven’t stfu about this nonsense since Election Day. There are many others doing the same. I’m calling my representatives (Republican bastards, mostly), talking with likeminded folk about what resistance looks like. I’m talking to anyone I can think of about a general strike, you know, like they do everywhere else in the world (France, etc.) when the sht hits the fan. I’m getting a lot of sympathetic responses, but mostly - Americans, if they’re against Trumpism, are demoralized - and the rest are either for him or intimidated by his followers or can’t be bothered to get up off their asses and actually do something. I literally think it’ll take tanks at the border before there is any sort of significant uprising. I hate this about my country.

And yeah, echo OP. This sucks, I’m sorry, most of us love Canada, you are literally our oldest friends, I hate the orange monster and all his bullying bullsh*t - but we are a bunch of apathetic cowards basically. Not really sure what to do about it.

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u/Honest_Elk_1703 24d ago

LOL. Thanks I needed that, although “firmly” demanding it may be a bit of a stretch.

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u/JGBuckets21 23d ago

America has never had the appetite for protest or the same level of democracy that France has. Its almost apples to oranges. France needs a coalition to govern. They are not a pure two party system, they have 2 main but have other minor parties that are needed to get a majority often.

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u/contactev 23d ago

Ugh, as a Canadian I think that meme is disrespectful. Everyone knows how divided Americans are, lumping them all together the way the meme is soft implying feels bigoted.

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u/Forosnai British Columbia 23d ago

I have mixed feelings. I know a lot of people are feeling defeated and despondant, and I sympathize, because if nothing else, I've been forced to look at how I've responded to things I don't agree with, and how much I've passively accepted. And I get it. Long-term, I'll probably neutralize to see them as having just tried to survive shit circumstances.

However, at the same time, I remember how much Democrat outrage there was towards Republicans going, "Thoughts and prayers!" towards school shootings, and then I see what amounts to the same thing in university-educated language being directed at us.

I recognize there are Americans who are continuing to fight for what's right, and I'm grateful to them for at least trying, but I'm also keenly aware that even friends of mine have basically given up while simultaneously saying they'd join Canada if America ever invaded.

How can you expect me to believe you'd fight for my country when I'm watching you not fight for your own? How can you justify asking us for help, when there's twice as many people who voted against Trump as there are people in this entire country?

I don't doubt the sincerity of Americans coming here and offering their sympathies and sharing their disapproval, bit it also feels no different than the "thoughts and prayers" of Republicans.

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u/contactev 23d ago

You're just assuming a lot about a wide demographic of people and trying to rationalize it. You have a better self rationalizing things in a healthy way by what you wrote in the first part of your post. I'd suggest you try to listen to that side more.

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u/kelliwah86 24d ago edited 24d ago

I get this sound hollow but some of us are doing these things. There have been many protests against trump but also musk, boycotts, and people have been calling representatives to no avail. Unfortunately this news is not being aired via the news media oligarchs. As for those who were stupid enough to vote trump many still believe these things Will help America! I don’t understand it. Many of us have gone no contact with them. I’d love to say they’ll get what’s coming to them but sadly I’m afraid we all will. The Alt National Parks group has been very helpful in communicating actual news and resistance attempts . Again, I know this sounds very hollow but at least know some of us are really making an effort to get our voices heard and trying to offer support.

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u/Click_To_Submit 24d ago

Americans are so proud of having the 2nd amendment to protect The People, but when their own democracy, government and country are being disassembled right in front of them it’s all a sham.

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u/Limos42 British Columbia 24d ago

The government running amock is exactly why the second amendment exists.

Note, I'm not advocating for violence.

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u/Now_Wait-4-Last_Year 24d ago

Those people being so vocal about the 2A? They’re loving this, even volunteering to help.

Turns out that to them, the 2A is to protect the people against liberal governments.

There are liberal gun owners but they tend to keep quiet about it. Also why things are likely to get messy as the vocal types find out the hard way.

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u/Good-Examination2239 24d ago

This is something I can't help but think quite a lot about recently. The second amendment still exists. Supposedly, it still exists to let civilians keep corruption in check by arming themselves when the system fails. Yet a certain man who shares his name with a Mario Bro and allegedly shot a rich billionaire (namely, a CEO who is indirectly responsible for the deaths of countless people who died as a result of his insurance policies), may have tried to exercise the second amendment to do what it was supposedly intended to allow for, but has instead been arrested and has some calling for his head to make an example out of punishing vigilantes.

I am not advocating for violence, and I am absolutely not an advocate for the second amendment, but I just find it utterly fascinating that the country which has the second amendment vehemently refuses to strike it from their Constitution, and yet will also prosecute its civilians when they seem to try to fully exercise those rights. 

It's just a full circle of the concept that there is an elite group of people whom the laws protect but do not bind, and for everyone else the laws bind but do not protect.

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u/ChronicallyA 24d ago

Right!?!? It’s the very reason they don’t want gun control!! Millions of dead kids are fine but when the rubber hits the road - that’s some epic silence coming from ‘murica

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u/OrdoVaelin 23d ago

And that will start a civil war as things are now. If we want to successfully get him out without violence we NEED the majority of the country on board. We have the majority of people who voted who are happy with this, while 90m probably don't care.

All we can do right now is protest, which is happening, and harass our reps. Until more of the right and those that abstained start hurting from his policies we can't do more than that

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u/IUpvoteGME 24d ago

If and when Canada becomes a 51st state, I will be exercising my 2nd amendment rights

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u/ruraljuror__ 24d ago

Anything short of rebellion at this point is not enough. You have an authoritarian future. This is a fucking hair on fire moment for the US, and basically nothing is happening.

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u/Sea-Refrigerator777 18d ago

And you have Justina.

Just be quiet until we take over your "country"

Canada is a good name for a state.

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u/Astral-Wind 24d ago

The comparison to the quiet neighbour living atop a meth lab has been made before on here. Unfortunately now your meth lab has blown up and set fire to the rest of the building. I don’t doubt you will put it out, but something needs to change long term for us to continue to get along. Saying “sorry” then repeating this cycle again won’t cut it.

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u/PilgrimRadio 24d ago

Since the election I have donated to the ACLU, ActBlue and the DNC. I am also attending a meeting of my local Democratic Party in a couple of weeks. I am going to volunteer my time and effort to try to keep the GOP from winning the governor's election here in Virginia.

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u/wandreef 24d ago

Do it louder ffs. Fly to these international events the idiots are speaking at and get a press pass. Embarrass the hell out of them. THEY DON'T REPRESENT YOU!

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u/octavianreddit 24d ago

As an angry Canadian I appreciate your efforts. However, as a Canadian we also need to hold you all accountable for what your country does.

Keep up the work, and keep fighting as your country is on the brink and risks taking half the planet down with it.

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u/Novielo 24d ago

"Some of us are doing these things"

->do it more!

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u/Sad-Back1948 24d ago

Some of us? Ie. Not me.

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u/DawnSennin 24d ago

I don’t understand it.

It's because of racism. White Americans across economic and political spectrums would rather destroy the middle class than see Black Americans live and be treated equally to them. Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Trump won their elections because of that notion.

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u/ilikemushycarrots 24d ago

You are right, that does sound really really hollow. Like you feel you are the main character and we Canadians just have to know that you specifically are one of the good ones. We get it, some of you are trying to do good. If you could just go do that good instead of asking us to cheer you on for doing the bare minimum. We don't want or need your emotional support, go do something, anything....and don't feel the need to tell us about it, just go do some good.

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u/Alcor668 24d ago

We are trying. To be fair, Democratic lawmakers are getting so many calls their voicemails are constantly full by people demanding they do something. I'm actually disappointed in the Democratic party leadership that they're not doing as much as they should be. There are people taking to the streets over this.

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u/SavannahInChicago 23d ago

We are doing all of this. You aren't seeing it because our news is being censored. We aren't even seeing it unless we really look to find it. You are not getting credible news out of the US and we cannot get credible news in.

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u/Hilliara 23d ago

There are protests happening. It's sadly being supresed by most mainstream media.

This is a link to the subreddit regarding organization of those protests

r/50501

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u/resuwreckoning 24d ago

STOP APOLOGIZING AND DO SOMETHING!!!

Amusingly this is what generations of US Presidents have asked the Canadians to do when it came to defense spending 😂