My illustration today was posted by CdnHistoryEhx - it shows the Battle of Queenston Heights, Oct 13 1812 by John David Kelly. Despite being outnumbered by three to one, the Canadians and the British won against the United States.
It seemed appropriate because once again Canada finds itself fighting an unwanted battle against a much stronger bully.
Trudeau gave a brilliant speech today, and held a brilliant press conference.
"We will fight, and we will win. ... We're going to make sure nobody goes hungry, and everyone carries their share."
Yes, I agree this was the most remarkable part - Trudeau is not pussyfooting around:
“What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that'll make it easier to annex us." This is the most extraordinary statement by a Canadian prime minister in the history of this country. The Trump administration is at war with Canada.
— John Ibbitson (@johnibbitson.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 11:39 AM
If you can't listen to all of it, read Wesley Wark's excellent analysis:
Trudeau comes out swingingOr, he gets three big punches in, but shadow boxing... This was Trudeau the boxer, on his toes....He aimed three big roundhouses.The very first, right off the top, was aimed at the Trump administration as a whole, that bizarre coterie of loyalists, weirdos, and the under-qualified...The second punch was aimed at the gut of the American people. Canadian counter-tariffs, Trudeau indicated, was never a shot we wanted to take....The third swing was to the chin of the Donald. Trudeau didn’t refer to him as The President or Mr. President, just “Donald.” Lese majeste! Cue up howls from the rabid right wing media in the US. This was almost a worse afront than failing to wear a suit. Trudeau reminded Donald that over the course of their respective political careers, “we have done great things together.” Note to Trudeau speech writers—Donald’s memory and grasp of history is not the best (but it doesn’t matter). The PM then went on to really power it in, quoting and agreeing with the Wall Street Journal--that “Donald—this is a very dumb thing to do.”Then finally, he turned to the Canadian people, not with a punch, but a promise, hopefully not a fairy-tale. American tariffs will be tough, he said, no sugar-coating, but the government will be there to support you.Probably the most unscripted thing that Trudeau had to say, which came out in the brief Q and A with the media, was that what Trump wants to see with the tariffs is a total collapse of the Canadian economy, which would make it easier for Trump to annex us. Not going to happen, he said.
It was inspiring for everyone:
