Dougie93

the Commonwealth is not the British Empire, there is no qualification to be a member of the Commonwealth, the largest Commonwealth member is the Republic of India, the Commonwealth is not a political alliance, merely a social club, the alliance which already binds America, Britain, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, is called the United Kingdom United States Agreement ( UKUSA ) governing Five Eyes intelligence ( FVEY ) often referred to as the "Special Relationship" and/or the "Anglosphere" officially enacted on 5 March 1946, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement

you're the one who represents the pro-American party, the CPC are the Republicans of Canada, I'm supporting Canada's British Prime Minister, Dieu Sauve le Roi

at the end of the day, when Canadians ceased to be British, that simply returned them whence they came, which was not from England, but rather the American colonies, there's really no such thing as Canadian culture, other than being Loyalist Americans, "Canadian" being a French name adopted in the wake of the War of 1812, the CBC is a classically British institution therein, a British North American state enterprise, but if one is not British anymore, but rather has reverted to being American ; then one views the CBC as Americans do ; as statist propaganda

that is indeed an almost uniquely Canadian deficiency, but again, that is all due to Canadian complacency and naivete, so the shock of an existential trade war is a good thing, Canada is getting its comeuppance for decades of being asleep at the switch

the way to do that is to invest more in 3D printers and robots, the problem with Canadian companies is that they refuse to invest in technology, so again, forcing them out of that comfort zone is creative destruction

well if you go to a Linamar plant at shift change ; all the employees are immigrants just off the cabbage boat, that's the only workers they can get to work there for what Linamar pays, forcing Ontario to move on from auto manufacturing would in fact be creative destruction

well I would suggest the trick is to invest in more value added sectors, that could be tech in K-W, or it could also be mining in Northern Ontario, either way tho, auto manufacturing is a dead end, that industry is dying a slow death regardless of tariffs, those jobs that the Americans are "stealing" don't even pay well anymore, nobody is aspiring to make $20 an hour assembling auto parts,

well again, the condo market is so overbuilt in Toronto, that soon it will be cheaper to rent a condo in Toronto than it will be to rent one in K-W K-W ain't cheap, sure your condo might be a little larger than in Toronto, but the rent will be the same

well I am steeped in Canadian history right back to Samuel de Champlain in June of 1603, but that plus the exact fare, gets me a ride on the public transit, yet I don't find Canada to be unnafordable, certainly not compared to the 1980's , like when was a fully detached home ever cheap in Toronto ? never was, my father had a good government job, practically for life, but he couldn't afford to buy a home, just a duplex, until he was almost 50, and with a mortgage rate of 18%, he could barely afford it actually, the youth simply have no perspective, they don't know how rough the 70's & 80's actually were, I grew up in cockroach infested basement apartments with junkies shooting up in the alley behind, downtown Toronto has become totally gentrified now in comparison, my niece thinks she's "poor", but she actually lives in a luxury condominium, and since the condo market is collapsing in Toronto, her rent costs are going down not up

but again, Canada is a very weak federation, by design in fact, never mind politically, even just geographically, Canada doesn't work as an east - west enterprise, it's not that anybody chose to go north south politically, that was in place long before Free Trade, as an emergency measure in the face of Trump's lunacy, Canada can adopt a defensive posture, but it's not sustainable long term in the face of market forces

American culture is simply supplanting Canadian culture, to wit, only Boomers watch the CBC

again, you're thinking like a Boomer, when already there is no difference between an American Zoomer and a Canadian Zoomer, these relationships you are invoking are dissipating very rapidly in Monoculture Smartphone world, kids can't even read books these days, never mind feel any affinity for archaic Canadian history

which is why I am going with Carney over the CPC "Canada First" position, even Carney's defence plans are better and more realistic than Poilievre's, contrary to popular myth, it's actually the Liberals who have spent the most on the military over time, the Conservatives want their tax cuts, only the Liberals want to spend big on anything at all, Paul Martin was a better friend to DND than Stephen Harper was

I think it would just come down to money in the end, as America continues to get richer while Canada continues to get poorer, as the MAGA Republicans die off like Dinosaurs and America actually becomes more Progressive not less, at some point, the difference between New York & Toronto becomes indistinguishable

depends on whether America is offering that union or not, Donald Trump is going about this in a very ham handed fashion inciting a backlash, but there are subtler and more effective ways which America could apply pressure, over time, long after the Boomers are gone, when immigrants make up the dominant majority of the Canadian population, that population may simply become sick of living behind an Iron Curtain, to wit, what does a Punjabi Sikh care for Isaac Brock ?

soon as Ontario makes its move, the rest are dragged along kicking & screaming or otherwise, except for Quebec which seeks Protectorate Status,

well Donald Trump is obviously the wrong man to get it done, but again, if you think of it as a long term project, with the Democrats being the emissaries ; making offers instead of threats, then I can see Toronto & Co starting to come around

Trudeau was not a cause, he was a result, Trudeau was pandering to something which has been growing since the 1970's and it hasn't gone away, it still controls every institution in Canada, this idea that the Post National State is gone never to return, that is patently naive

well Canada managed to dodge the worst of the Global Financial Crisis in the moment, however, American came rocketing out of the crisis like a Phoenix, while Canada went in the opposite direction,

well frankly, the way America is now, Issac Brock would favour joining them, General Brock actually couldn't stand being posted to Upper Canada, he was no Yeoman Farmer, Upper Canada was a career ender, exile in the middle of nowhere, General Brock desired to be in Europe fighting Bonaparte more than anything, still to this day, nobody in England has ever heard of him, which is all he cared about in the end,

Ontario is the prize, Ontario is where the money is, Alberta oil is not so important, Venezuela has the same oil and it ain't making them rich,

but Canada's real problem is productivity & innovation, or rather the total lack thereof Canada could consume 100% of Canada's resources, but that wouldn't make Canada rich, quite the opposite

as of right now they are not, but again, if America made annexation a long term project, things would change over time, if the choice was to be poorer than Mississippi behind a Canadian Iron Curtain, or as rich as New York with State status in America, over time, Ontario would start to consider its options, it's mostly just Boomers who are attached to Expo 67 Canada, that is who is rallying to the colours, but all those Boomers are about to die off en masse,

I would suggest that is mostly just talk at this point, more rhetorical than functional, furthermore, that would not last if America made annexation a long term project, under relentless pressure indefinitely, Canadian unity would crack, like already people in Ontario are calling Albertans "traitors", Alberta is MAGA North to Ontario now, never mind keeping Alberta in Canada, at this point Ontario wants to kick Alberta out, people expect Quebec or Alberta to be the ones who bring Confederation down, but actually, if there is a Province with the most interests in joining America, it's Ontario from an American point of view, if you are going to award State status, Ontario would be that State, in Ontario, America gets the industrial heartland, and the resources, all in one, from an Imperialist standpoint, Toronto is the prize, not Regina Saskatchewan, America is not a resource empire, America is a tech empire, the resources come to America regardless, the prize is Intellectual Property now, Toronto is worth more than the rest of Canada combined therein, if Toronto was freed from Canadian friction to operate under American rules, it would rival New York & Los Angeles, it would surpass Los Angeles in fact, in Canada, Ontario is as poor as Mississippi, but if it was an American State, Ontario would be New York North