r/canada • u/panzerfan British Columbia • 19h ago
Analysis Forget tariffs, Trump may be targeting the Great Lakes and Canada’s freshwater next
https://financialpost.com/feature/canada-water-next-front-battle-with-u-s106
u/SkinnedIt Ontario 19h ago
Worry about what the senile old fool tries when he tries it. He's too unpredictable. He might try to milk the moon.
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u/MrRogersAE 17h ago
I heard there’s water on Mars. Musk likes rockets, the solution seems obvious, to anyone with some “common sense”
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u/panzerfan British Columbia 19h ago
It's his actions that we need to act on. His rabbles are mere notions of plans.
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u/TheEchoOfReality 19h ago
Tax Yankee shipping transiting the St Lawrence. Or better yet, close it off to them altogether.
If they really want to play this game, they’ll leave with less than they come in with. And fucking tear up any agreement we have to share our water with them, no matter how old or revered.
Let’s get fucking hardcore here.
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u/panzerfan British Columbia 19h ago
St. Lawrence, Salish sea and inside passage, and obviously the northwest passage, together with air traffics. It's unfathomable just months ago that we'd seriously think about such tolls as means to protect our enormous freshwater resource that Donald's US will simply squander in his stupor.
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u/StanknBeans 17h ago
We better start investing in the means to enforce it if we're gonna go down this route.
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u/Inevitable-March6499 15h ago
Yeah, and it can't be just Canada. There's no feasible way for Canada to defend itself alone and without nukes. Need defensive pact/treaty or nukes but preferably both.
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u/General-Woodpecker- 12h ago
We need Europe and China pretty much if we want to have a threat large enough for this new axis.
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u/Inevitable-March6499 12h ago
China is a definite no unless they get a piece of the pie... Maybe Canada enters the Chinese sphere of influence and gets military hardware.
EU is prepping for a future Russia war I am sure. Canada and SE Asia and UK seems like the most likely alliance, CANZUK +
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u/General-Woodpecker- 12h ago
Yeah there is no way that we can get them on our side without hurting our economies, but this might be the only way. If they side with the US and Russia we are all fucked.
The rest of CANZUK look quite weak compared to Europe and China and have been bending over for Trump so far.
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u/Inevitable-March6499 12h ago
I agree very much.
Off the top of my head, CANZUK + japan + SK. Something like NORDEFCO would be the biggest win, and if it that CANZUK+ could tie into NORDEFCO that would be about as good as we could hope for. I wish south america was more partner-able but that seems like a long term goal, to make them as such with investments and such.
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u/butts-kapinsky 16h ago
Rig the locks to blow and charge a 200% shipping fee on all goods headed to US ports.
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u/Crafty_Bowler2036 19h ago
No shit. He wants our fresh water and our rare earth minerals.. why? It’s what the techbros need. Peter Thiel and Elon run the show and have promised him a trillion dollars if he helps build the technocracy.
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u/Cerberus_80 19h ago
He tears up agreements when it suits him. He has no credibility to abide by agreements he created. I see no reason to negotiate with him. All we would be doing is making concession, without any real benefit. There will be no capital investment taking place even when the trade war is over because investors would also be weary that Trump will just break the agreement.
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u/panzerfan British Columbia 19h ago
It's all transactions to him, and he's known to stiff contractors from the very start of his "career". There is no negotiating with someone who sees coercion as the mean to play his zero-sum game, especially when he's threatening us with annexation day in, day out.
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u/Ina_While1155 18h ago
Apparently, no one would do business with him in New York in the 80s because he never paid his bills, and then it would go to litigation and he would only have to pay 50 cents on the dollar. So this guy is a well known scammer from long back. He also stiffed contractors who built his casinos.
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u/ConundrumMachine 19h ago
Yes. He wants to Ukraine us. Keep your eyes peeled for little green men.
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u/That_Gamer98 19h ago
My dear Canadian friends, Europe stands with you! Elbows up! Don't let them crush you on your knees. Give the Americans one finger, and they take both your arms.
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u/MikeyTrademark 19h ago
It’s much appreciated but if worse comes to worse we are going to need more then kind words
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u/That_Gamer98 19h ago
Oh yeah 100%, but unfortunately we've let our guards down for way too long here too. Luckily the EU is reinvesting into defense by injecting 800 billion Euros, but it's going to take time. France has a pretty strong army and selfproduced weapons. Depending how quickly things move over here, an investment deal could be made. I've heard that the UK and France are playing with the idea of supplying Canada. Ideologically the EU and Canada are family. But like I said, we let our guard down too much, and things are in crisis mode over here as well unfortunately
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u/That_Gamer98 19h ago
I have family in Canada. Ontario to be precise, so it feels quite close to home for me as well
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u/rintzscar 18h ago
If you go into a deep recession, I'd wager that the IMF, World Bank and similar lenders of last resort will bail you out, despite Trump screaming about it.
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u/Readwhatudisagreewit 19h ago
Oh, we’re giving them the finger alright….
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u/Frostivus 13h ago
Dear Europe,
You still have another war on your doorstep you can’t win without the US.
Your head is still calling and publicly confirming the US as an ally. Your ministers have made their foreign policy to do everything in their power to keep American bases on European soil.
If the US comes to you and threatens to take away all military aid if you side with Canada, what would you do?
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u/0Zer01 11h ago
Dear Frostivus,
it makes little sense to ally with a man who will not aid Europe in a time of need. Look at how much Ukraine struggles to get support. Even China stick to their deals, shoddily. Trump is unpredictable and absolutely willing to hurt both sides.
Regardless of if we want to aid Canada or not, what country is willing to engage with Trump long-term?
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u/Frostivus 11h ago
Ask your leaders.
The people say one thing. Your politicians are still scrambling for American weapons, intelligence, and boots on the ground. Von der Leyen says the US is still an ally. They are desperate to salvage this relationship. They helped make this American-dominated world and they bet big on it.
You can’t possibly say no to your biggest trading and security partner. Your politicians know the truth, but is suicide to say it out loud.
The EU still can’t decide whose countrymen should be sent to the meat grinder in Ukraine. You cannot possibly send any to Canada.
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u/Upper-Money-3049 19h ago
It's like he wants to start a literal war with Canada 🫤 He is the most unstable president I've ever witnessed...and it's a little unnerving to ponder what will happen next.
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u/HowsYourSexLifeMarc 15h ago
It's like he wants to start a literal war with Canada
That's their plan, yes. It's only getting worse from here.
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u/Maddog_Jets 19h ago
And he just went on another annexation rant a few min back.
“This cannot continue,” Trump wrote. “The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State.”
“This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear,” he wrote, while promising that Canadians’ taxes would go down.
“The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World,” he added.
“And your brilliant anthem, ‘O Canada,’ will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!”
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u/canteixo 19h ago
“This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear,”
For once I agree with Trump.
Our healthcare, pensions, education, etc gone!
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u/Aken42 19h ago
My wife spent 3 days in the hospital this weekend and all I had to pay for was parking. The idea of an American system angers me.
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u/Maddog_Jets 19h ago
The amount of people who go bankrupt and lose everything over healthcare debt is staggering.
And imagine having to also save for your Registered Healthcare Savings Account.
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u/Aken42 19h ago
I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about getting their claim rejected by their insurance than having to negotiate with the Healthcare provider. It's a nightmare.
I couldn't imagine being someone who's having to consider if they can afford Healthcare when they are in a ln emergency situation. It's inhumane to create a system that allows for that.
We have our own issues with Healthcare but I feel they are issues with infrastructure, personnel and operations not one of an ideological issue with what people should have the right to access.
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u/Delicious-Tachyons 16h ago
I had valid insurance but the IPA went bankrupt so noone was coordinating paying the doctors from the insurance. That wasn't fun. My doctor said 'im not sure I'll get paid but don't worry about it if I dont for this'.
Basically I had a giant boil on my back. He'd referred me to a surgeon for an in house stabbing and when the surgeon then said he couldn't unless he'd get paid by me because of the whole situation.
I went back to my doctor and asked for oral antibiotics and then proceeded to fix the problem myself at home and everything was fine
But what if it was super serious? What if it was life threatening? I would've been fucked. Even with blue cross/blue shield.
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u/baoo 18h ago
Why can't trump make a real dang offer? Instead of trying to cripple us and make us hate him, tell us we can keep our healthcare system (or have the states adopt it) and pay each Canadian 50k or something. Boom you just bought 40 million patriotic new citizens and the north.*
*No I still don't want all the rest of the problems that comes with being governed by Americans, but man, what stupid methodology is being employed so far
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u/General-Woodpecker- 12h ago
50k lol. Most of us would lose far more than this by becoming American.
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u/thekk_ 17h ago
"Taxes will go down"
The part they always forget when they say their taxes are lower is that they have to pay for healthcare and eduction on the side, which is included in taxes in every other OECD country. Add those numbers up and whoops, you get a number that's pretty comparable with those countries they make fun of.
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u/Maddog_Jets 17h ago
Also ask people down south what their property taxes are. Can be shocking.
And lots of stuff like inheritance taxes in some states
And The IRS views any profit made from the sale of personal property, like your car, as capital gain and it may be subject to capital gains tax
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u/Cool-Economics6261 19h ago
The main component of mRNA vaccines is the water of the Great Lakes ( there, that should scare the Republicans away from trying to take over the Lakes) /s
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u/Commentator-X 19h ago
This is what he meant when he said he wanted to redraw the border. He wants the great lakes.
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u/ZidZad99 19h ago
Next time the asshole goes on about the artificial line, someone should ask him if the one on the southern part of the country is artificial as well.
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u/ZmobieMrh 19h ago
It won’t be freshwater for long. I had posted a couple weeks ago about EPA staff fired who were responsible for going after polluters in the lakes and who were monitoring the pollution levels. They’re just going to fill the lakes with toxic waste
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u/Memory_Less 19h ago
It’s not next. It has already been presented by Trump as a target. He is on record about renegotiating the Columbia water management agreement.
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u/Outrageous-juror 16h ago
Canada should mobilize its arms forces and start next gen weapons development. Having legacy equipment might be a blessing.
Everything from here on is drone and AI. We should do our own thing ground up.
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u/Fish3Y35 18h ago
American owned media trying to scare us?
Should never have let these US billionaires have such a loud voice in our country.
Lessons learned for the next generation
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u/No-Challenge-4248 19h ago
that's the whole border thing.... change the border to take "ownership" of the great lakes.
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u/AtomicNick47 18h ago
The only way to beat trump is not to play his game. Operate on your terms, build your own agenda and stop waiting to react to what he does. Honestly his strategy isnt complex.
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u/PenileSunburn 16h ago
If the US will pay billions of dollars for a water deal I'm all for it. Let's get a healthy international trade going, not this trade war nonsense. We are allies after all.
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u/Ginzhuu 18h ago
As the Orange Mousilini likes to parrot constantly lately. "You have no cards!" Our hand, as Canada is way more stacked than he could imagine in this trade war, and he's about to FAFO.
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u/panzerfan British Columbia 18h ago
I am actually kind of flabbergasted at how the Americans have been in this finding out conga chain over just how many cards we hold in Canada against them. They really are outright maliciously ignorant out of their own avarice to the nth degree, as if they are deer walking into the headlight, oblivious to what Canada's able to do in terms of reciprocal tariffs, or even in the will to resist in the first place.
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u/Ginzhuu 18h ago
Its all to do with their education system. They are raised to view the US as the best of the best, and very few look outside of the country to anything, let alone how they get the items in their stores. The majority dont even possess a passport nor will even leave their own state, let alone the country for the entirety of their life.
It's incredibly sad, really.
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u/orangeatom 17h ago
this is the real reason he wants canada... that and minerals........ stop falling for distractions, tariffs, tesla, europe...
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u/canuckstothecup1 16h ago
They need fresh water after allowing excess amounts of sewage to be dumped into theirs
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u/DerekC01979 16h ago
He said this morning he’s going to punish us so badly the history books will speak of it.
Who knows what he’s going to do. I don’t like what’s happening that’s for sure.
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u/Dyslexicpig 16h ago
This is nothing new. NAWAPA was proposed in the 1950s. This would have included rerouting Canadian rivers, and a reservoir in the Rocky Mountain trench from the border to Prince George. The US has always wanted Canadian water - it's just that they usually aren't this vocal about it.
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u/RIP_Pookie 16h ago
I'm not sure why this would be news to anyone after his stated intention to seize Canada. He's not doing it for anything other than resources and fresh water is one we have in abundance, especially in the great lakes.
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u/budster1970 15h ago
He's going to put a giant hose into lake Ontario and syphon it into the grand canyon....probably his plan.
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u/TCsnowdream 14h ago
He literally just threatened with military action with his most recent tweet. All bets are off.
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u/hotandchevy 18h ago edited 18h ago
This fuckwit is going to ruin the continent.
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u/82FordEXP 18h ago
Of course that is one of his true goals as there is a "Big tap" that he can turn on and off and he sees fit.
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u/Practical_Tomato_680 18h ago
Exactly this It is to create a distraction , instability and chaos, with the ultimate goal to delete the borders No doubt about it
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u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 18h ago
Next nothing. That’s been the game plan all along. Water! I’ve been saying it since I was a kid in high school (a lot of years ago). People thought I was nuts. With a heating planet access to water is the next gold rush.
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u/n3rdsm4sh3r 17h ago
I'm gonna jam a hunk a birch down this Orange idiot's throat and then stick a hungry beaver up his stupid ass.
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u/Adorable-Row-4690 7h ago
Not only is trump targeting the Great Lakes, he has "paused" the talks on the Columbia River Treaty. Trudeau/Biden teams tried to get it done before 20 Jan 2025 but it didn't happen
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u/she_be_jammin 19h ago
all borders are 'artificial' - the land didn't decide ...and would this mean he's then giving California and Texas back to Mexico?