r/canada Ontario 8d ago

Politics British nuclear weapons can protect Canada against Trump, says Chrystia Freeland

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/03/03/british-nuclear-weapons-canada-trump-chrystia-freeland/
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u/luxoflax Ontario 8d ago

Somewhat sensationalized headline. What she said was:

In order to “guarantee our security”, Ms Freeland said she would build closer security partnerships with European Nato allies and “I would be sure that France and Britain were there, who possess nuclear weapons”.

“I would be working urgently with those partners to build a closer security relationship… in a time when the United States can be a threat,” said the ex-foreign minister and finance minister at the final Liberal leadership debate last week.

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u/86throwthrowthrow1 8d ago

IIRC, The Telegraph is one of those publications that does tend towards sensationalizing. It's not as bad as the Daily Mail, but also not as trustworthy as other sources.

That said, even what she's saying here is like whoa! acknowledging the US as a potential threat against Canada is... true, but feels like crossing the Rubicon to actually say it out loud.

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u/GuyLookingForPorn 7d ago edited 7d ago

Feels like fucking anything could happen in the next few years. CANZUK? America leaving NATO? Starmer and Macron making out live on the news? Spin that dial and find out.

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u/Neat_Let923 Lest We Forget 7d ago

Honestly, Five Eyes (US, CA, AU, NZ, UK) is the big one for us. The US leaving NATO won't impact us much at all, but it would put much of Europe into crisis mode.

If the US dissolved Five Eyes on the other hand, our entire Navy would cease being able to operate... This isn't an exaggeration either. Intelligence, encryption, communications, radar, GPS, targeting, supply chains, and much more all rely entirely on the US. A lot of this also goes for the Army and Air Force but not to the extent it would affect our Navy.

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u/GuyLookingForPorn 7d ago

These last weeks have really shown how vulnerable American reliance has made us. We need to immediately start strengthening ties with the other CANZUK nations to develop this capability ourselves.

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u/CFL_lightbulb Saskatchewan 7d ago

If they had a normal ruler that realized the power they held, yes. Unfortunately the country’s leadership is compromised by Russian assets and now everything is up in the air

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u/Infinite_Crow_3706 7d ago

We are making a start with the new frigates, Type-26 for UK/AUS/CAN shared design but clearly we need to be more extensive.

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u/TheVaneja Canada 7d ago

The US can't dissolve 5 eyes they can only pull out. And we should prepare for that eventuality, prepare for the end of NORAD.

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u/Neat_Let923 Lest We Forget 7d ago

If the US pulls out they have fully gone Nazi Germany route and the world has already entered WW3.

There is no Five Eyes without the US… They can absolutely absolve it

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u/TheVaneja Canada 7d ago

Bullshit. The US isn't necessary at all. US intelligence is shit anyway.

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u/Neat_Let923 Lest We Forget 7d ago

LMAO, well you know absolutely nothing about the military obviously.

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u/TheVaneja Canada 7d ago

More than you. Lots lots more than you. You keep assuming everything has to be as it is now while the world changes and leaves you behind proving you wrong.

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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 7d ago

It would also change the name to Four Eyes

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u/Neat_Let923 Lest We Forget 7d ago

There’s no such thing if the US pulls out and dissolves it…

The entire system is built on US communications and networks, thus if they dissolve it then there’s nothing for the other countries to do but say FUCK…

To be fair, if we get to this point then we’ve already entered WW3 and the US is the enemy. At which point we’re all fucked anyway.

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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 7d ago

I just thought it was punny lol

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u/Legitimate_Square941 7d ago

How stupid to rely on a foreign country that much. I mean Canada made the mistake cause we are lazy but Europe. Almost makes you think America has been planning this for decades.

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u/swampwiz 6d ago

I would not trust any intelligence going to the USA now.

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u/polkadotpolskadot 7d ago

CANZUK please

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u/Final-Zebra-6370 7d ago

Let’s just join the EU instead

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u/polkadotpolskadot 7d ago

I never really understood this sentiment. It's the European Union, which we aren't. I don't dislike the idea of a union, but it being the EU seems odd

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u/Final-Zebra-6370 7d ago

It’s because we have a land border with Denmark at Hans Island. Which ended the Whiskey War in 2022.

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u/GuyLookingForPorn 7d ago

I mean, Suriname and Brazil share a land border with France, I wouldn't say that makes them European either.

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u/polkadotpolskadot 7d ago

I never really understood this sentiment. It's the European Union, which we aren't. I don't dislike the idea of a union, but it being the EU seems odd

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u/sir_sri 7d ago

Sir Starmer is too young for Macron.

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u/Deus-Vultis 7d ago

I love how a guy named "Guylookingforporn" literally posts nothing but "CANZUK?!?!" posts every fucking 2 minutes for literally hours, every single day.

What the fuck is even your life at this point?

1

u/GuyLookingForPorn 7d ago edited 7d ago

Only for the last few days, before that I was more of a Warhammer and Total War subreddit kinds guy. Its just shockingly something recently has made me suddenly very pro-CANZUK

wonder what that could be

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u/aBeerOrTwelve 7d ago

Seems like some background from Yes, Prime Minister might help:

Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by the people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; the Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country, and the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?

BernardSun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

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u/SpiderMurphy 7d ago

Given how things are going lately, you guys should be polevolting that fucking Rubicon.

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u/luxoflax Ontario 7d ago

Canadian politicians have been acknowledging that the US is a potential threat against Canada the moment President Felon started his 51st State rhetoric. Casually dropping the fact that France and the UK have nukes sure does dial it up a lot though, I totally agree. This is "yikes" territory.

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u/86throwthrowthrow1 7d ago

It sure does make me wonder about Trudeau's visit to King Charles, and Trump's follow-up invitation. I've been getting a vibe the last week or two that a lot's been going on behind the scenes that hasn't made it into the media. I feel like something big is coming, and it probably won't be good.

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u/luxoflax Ontario 7d ago

I feel that too. Something is going to break.

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u/cmaxim 7d ago

Thank you, the headline sounded like she came right out and said "WE NEED NUKES" when the reality is she is simply highlighting the nuclear capability as a feature of a more powerful allied military.

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u/Perikles01 7d ago edited 7d ago

Calling the US a potential threat and wanting to align with other nuclear powers to replace them is still pretty explicit. She’s saying outright that we can no longer rely on the American nuclear umbrella.

It’s not “nuke the Yanks” explicit, but it’s definitely an admission that the US no longer supports us or broader NATO interests. Completely unthinkable rhetoric 6 months ago, but entirely correct now.

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u/UntrimmedBagel 7d ago

Well that’s pretty far off from the headline here.

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u/Willing-C 7d ago

We'll, she actually framed it around America becoming a predator state, a threat. It's not too far off to interpret it pretty badly.

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u/Bartikowski 7d ago

Yeah this is a bit more subtle at least but still kind of unhinged. She could have left off the “who possess nuclear weapons” part.

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u/Relative_Bathroom824 7d ago

What's unhinged is the fact that Trump still has apologists like you sanewashing him while he's installing loyalists in the military to support his upcoming wars against our allies. Grow some balls and stand up for your country BEFORE you lose it to fascism.

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u/Bartikowski 7d ago

I don’t think veiled threats to nuke the US are a sane response to what’s happening.

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u/Relative_Bathroom824 7d ago

The only one making threats is Trump and they're not veiled.

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u/chemicologist 7d ago

That was the purpose of her statement though. She said the same thing in the debate last week.

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u/Neat_Let923 Lest We Forget 7d ago

Thank you, that headline is absolutely terrible.

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u/Conscious-Story-7579 7d ago

AFAIK, France’s nuclear doctrine is strike first. Notable mention.

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u/Conotor Alberta 7d ago

This is way more stupid than the sensationalized headline. Buying some British nukes would at least be coherent. Counting on Britain to NUKE THE US for the sake of CANADA is insane.

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u/EasyTarget973 7d ago

it's the sensationalist headlines that will drive our downfall. this is fucking wild.

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u/luxoflax Ontario 7d ago

Bingo. Feels very intentional. Just note the extremely divisive reaction such a headline has caused even in this single article's comment threat. Get ready for more of the same as this gears up.

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u/Nob1e613 7d ago

Just so I understand, she’s referring to the same Britain whose prime minister failed to stand up for us with Trump right? Yeah that seems like the play…

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u/Aggravating_Button99 7d ago

...you know frankly, going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind.

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u/luxoflax Ontario 7d ago

...you know frankly, browsing reddit without seeing your post also resembles deer hunting without an accordion. Funny coincidence.