BeaverFever

Yeah but that’s the stupid celebrity and social media obsessed age demographic that doesn’t know shit about the world and only cares about partying and shopping and self-gratification and following whatever stupid trend is going viral, and that commits most of society’s crime. I bet you could dissect that data further and find that even within that group support for joining US goes down the older they get

…With U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to tariff Canada into submission as the “51st state,” 92 per cent of Americans surveyed by the Angus Reid Institute said they had no, or only qualified, support for a merger. Sixty per cent of 2,005 Americans questioned online between Feb. 27 and March 3, 2025, said they had no interest in Canada joining the United States, while another 32 per cent said they would support the idea only if Canadians wanted it. Canadians polled at the same time came in exactly as they had in a previous poll conducted in January 2025: of 2,005 surveyed, a solid 90 per cent rejected the idea of Canada joining the U.S., with 10 per cent saying yes. The findings are considered accurate to within two percentage points either way, 19 times out of 20. Just six per cent of the Americans polled said the U.S. should annex Canada using political and economic pressure, while two per cent supported the idea of using military force to do the job. The data also suggests Trump is out of step with his own voters on the issue: 44 per cent of Trump voters said they weren’t interested in Canada joining the United States at all, while another 42 per cent said they would only want Canada to join the U.S. if Canadians wanted to (Democratic voters polled 77/21). Twelve per cent of Trumpers said they supported applying political and economic pressure to bring Canada in, while two per cent advocated military force. The breakdown by Canadian party affiliations showed 21 per cent of Conservative respondents said yes to a merger with the U.S., while 99 per cent of Bloc Quebecois, 98 per cent of Liberal, and 97 per cent of New Democratic Party supporters said no. The percentage of Conservatives who said they would support a merger rose to 33 per cent when presented with the prospect of a Liberal majority government in Ottawa after the April 28 federal election. …. https://legionmagazine.com/overwhelming-majority-of-americans-oppose-51st-state-talk/

Of course what she did was wrong. But she’s a nobody. You can’t say what Trump did was wrong

Canada not mentioned in U.S. threat assessment’s summary of fentanyl crisis Fentanyl from Canada was not mentioned in a report released Tuesday outlining what the U.S. intelligence community considers the most serious foreign threats to the United States, despite President Donald Trump claiming that illicit drugs coming through the northern border are “an unusual and extraordinary threat.” The Trump administration has linked its punishing tariffs on Canada to Ottawa’s inability to stop the flow of fentanyl, which it says has risen massively in recent years. However, previous reporting from The Globe has found that the White House is using misleading data about drug seizures and their links to Canada. …Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, presented the report’s findings during the scheduled Senate intelligence committee hearing on Tuesday. During the hearing, Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico pressed Ms. Gabbard about Canada’s omission from the report and said he was surprised the country was not mentioned given Mr. Trump’s rhetoric. Ms. Gabbard said the focus of the ATA is on the “most extreme threats,” and its assessment is that the most extreme threat is “from and through Mexico.” When asked for comment on Tuesday, the White House referred the request to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which said it had nothing to share beyond what was in the report. Citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, the White House has previously asserted that 43 pounds of fentanyl was intercepted at the northern border last fiscal year, marking a “massive 2,050 per cent increase” compared with the year prior, when two pounds of the deadly synthetic drug was seized. However, as Globe analysis of the border agency’s figures found, the dataset does not reveal the origin of the drugs and U.S. border agents confirmed that the methodology used for attributing seizures to the northern border doesn’t hinge on whether the fentanyl was intercepted at the border or whether it came from Canada. It could have been seized hundreds of kilometres inland, and it may have no ties to Canada whatsoever. …. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-canada-not-mentioned-in-us-threat-assessments-summary-of-fentanyl/?login=true

The difference being Trump is your god and cult leader who you can’t live or breathe without and spend all day revering and defending while this is some random politician 90% of the public has never heard of.

This thread could have been titled “But her emails”

Suuuuure…it was top secret military information regarding an active combat mission but Hegspeth had a level 5 meltdown into a unhinged foaming at the mouth tirade about fake news conspiracies because he thinks the wrong technical term was used. He doesn’t care about strict laws and protocols about sharing the highest level of military secrets he’ll go apeshit ballistic over proper technical terminology LMAO do you really believe that?

Those so-called “lies” are not even close terms of scale or frequency or obviousness compared to huge and tiny lies MAGAs tell dozens of times a day

How iut of touch are you? White House already admitted it was true

Unless you’re storming the Capitol building on Jan 6, plotting to kidnap a governor or spray painting words like “C-NT” on some politicians office. Or marching through the streets with tiki torches chanting “jews will not replace us”. Or mobbing LGBTQ picnics and Drag Queen Story Time events Then it’s “very fine people” exercising free speech.

But it’s bigger than that because they should not be discussing and sharing these documents on a commercial app in the first place. There are very strict rules about this stuff. Unfortunately Trump has appointed people who are so grossly unqualified for the job not only do they not know or care about the rules they have open contempt for the very idea of rules… at least for rules applying to them. This attitude is part of MAGA culture.

But of course it did happen amd the White House confirmed it and Hegseth knew it happened too because he was in the chat. But he did the usual MAGA scumbag response which not only is “LIE AND DENY”but to also go on the attack claiming fake news conspiracy, denouncing and smearing the reputation of the truth-teller.

So you didn’t answer the question just more empty insults. No wonder you’re a PP follower. I know you folks on the far right live in a black hole if information but post-truth has been a thing for a decade now. So far your response in every linenof both posts is just you with your fingers in tour ears baselessly say “whatever you say is a lie la la la”. You don’t even offer an attempt at rebuttal. Or do you think “you’re a liar” is an intelligent rebuttal to any argument you don’t want to believe? So childish of you. Cmon NOBODY lies as much as Trump. In any western country. Nobody. And he can’t possibly believe all of them. He tells tall tales like he knows more about the military than generals or as much about COVID as scientists. He completely makes up numbers and invents stories that never happened. As I said before, the ones he repeats often enough he will probably forget that he was the one who invented them and he believes them to be true but he has absolutely no problem repeating things he knows to he false. His objective is to get people to agree with him and he will say anything to do it. It’s classic narcissistic behaviour and Trump is a textbook narcissist. Sure he does truly believe that he is one of the greatest people alive and so people should follow and revere him, so there’s one thing he believes as true. But he will tell any lie to achieve that goal with the belief that the truth doesn’t otherwise matter As I said originally, they don’t have well-formed beliefs Trump probably believes that tariffs are good, but he probably couldn’t write a high-school level paper on what they are and how they work. He thinks somehow the exporter pays them (false) and the cost doesn’t get passed on to the buyer (also false) But since he has this belief that is little more than memorizing “tariffs good” he will say anything to promote that even if happens to know or ought to know it’s untrue like fentanyl pouring over the border from Canada. He simply doesn’t care id it’s true or not its a means to an end: if it’s true, great; if not, so what tariffs are still good YOUR EXACT WORDS: “There's little doubt in my mind he would prefer a liberal government. “ No It’s not obvious why especially since on multiple occasions he has complained the Liberals were the most difficult to work with and that he didn’t know anything about PP. And you still won’t explain your argument other than to say “it’s obvious”. Because you don’t have an argument. Everyone knows his fentanyl claims are bogus and you ought to also. The amount crossing from Canada is about as close to zero as any can realistically achieve. Trump lied and said it is “pouring” across the border “at levels never seen before”. The drug problem at the border is largely US drugs flowing into Canada not the other way around. So childish. You have not made a single intelligent argument. Seriously you ought to be embarrassed. Do you not realize how ridiculous you sound? There’s nothing inconvenient for him about accidentally tanking conservative parties and boosting left wing parties in Canada all over the western world? Especially the party of people he hates and has openly lambasted multiple occasions? He has no reason to lie about his screwups? Lying about his screwup that he can’t admit to is a 4D chess move? More of your juvenile insults, and YOUR irrational argument which is nothing other than “but Trump denied he screwed up”. TRUMP IS THE MOST SHAMELESS LIAR It’s pretty obvious he was bullshitting “In the moment” because he is incapable of admitting he is incompetent

Arya has been accused of anti-Sikh rhetoric and anti-French statements and it has been whispered that he is one of the MPs suspected of being under foreign influence, in his case from the Indian government.

Wrong as usual: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/livestory/canada-election-cancelled-debate-steals-the-campaign-show-from-taxes-and-housing-9.6695827

LMAO How many times do you need to be told you can’t call opinions you don’t like lies. What exactly is it you’re claiming that Im”lying” about? Post-truth is not a term I invented. Everyone knows he is a prolific liar. You know he lies also. Often his lies aren’t even carefully crafted calculated lies, they’re implausible bullshit he invents right on the spot and have zero basis in reality. No he absolutely bullshits fake lies in the spot, often forgetting what he said later, just like you do. Claiming he prefers working with Liberals over conservatives being the perfect example, especially after denouncing them on multiple occasions naming Trudeau and Freeland specifically as the “the worst” people to work with, “nasty” etc. It’s long been said Trumps supporters take him seriously but not literally while his opponents take him literally but not seriously. Some of his cultist followers believe his lies and others just don’t care when they’re debunked, they just go “so what the point still stands”. There’s no way he could honestly believe fentanyl is pouring across the Canadian border for example and his repeated refusal to provide even a shred of evidence or a number around that is proof. Also his many fake stories he can’t possibly believe such as when he claimed the COVID scientists at CDC marvelled at his knowledge of microbiology and remarked he knew almost as much as they did on the subject. It’s not possible he believes these things. He constantly recites completely made up numbers that he must know he made up, although I am sure that after repeats them enough times he loses track of which ones he invented and which came from some other source. No, you’re not making sense and you’re being dishonest about what Trump said He has said on many occasions Canada is tough to deal either ok? He said Canada is nasty, Canada was very unfair and wouldn’t budge. He specifically mentioned Freeland by name If the Liberals were so easy for him to push around then why is he complaining that the USMCA deal HE NEGOTIATED with Liberals is so very unfair to America and takes advantage of USA? And as I said before he has no experience with any Canadian conservatives and admits he knows nothing about them so how could he possibly know they would be difficult to work with?Clearly your assertion doesn’t make any sense and ONCE AGAIN you’re the one lacking basic objectivity. You are absolutely gaslighting when you try to pretend he said Canada was a pushover and he just didn’t like Trudeau personally. But I suspect you’ve gaslit yourself. Seriously? HE IS A LIAR What don’t you understand? Of course when confronted with inconvenient facts he can’t deny he is going to say he doesn’t care. You are honestly still trying to argue that we can take him as his word and if he made a mistake he would admit to it? As Ive established above you have concocted a narrative that doesn’t match reality. Trump has complained repeatedly that the Liberals were in fact too difficult to work with, not too weak. Not only are your opinions “not very obvious” they are hilariously dubious and based on nothing except your desire to take the most shameless liar in western politics at his word on just this one occasion, base your entire argument on this one comment and literally ignore observed reality.

Canadian Forces pushing for sole source deal for U.S. weapons as Trump continues attacks on Canada The Canadian military wants the government to buy a U.S.-built High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, according to defence industry officials. Canada's military leadership is pushing for a sole source deal for the U.S.-built High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or HIMARS. Photo by Lance Cpl. Nicholas Guevara U. /24TH MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT Canada’s military leadership is pushing for yet another sole source deal for American equipment despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to economically damage this country and eventually annex it as the 51st state. The Canadian Forces wants the Liberal government to purchase the U.S.-built High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or HIMARS, according to defence industry officials. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ukraine has been using HIMARS in combat against Russian forces, but Trump was recently able to reduce the effectiveness of the weapon system by limiting the flow of data and intelligence needed for its operations. Trump has continued his threats against Canada, bringing in tariffs on March 12 against Canadian steel and aluminum. On March 11, Trump said he planned to eliminate Canada’s auto industry, which would throw thousands of Canadians out of work. The plan being proposed by the Canadian Forces senior leadership would see the purchase of a number of HIMARS built by Lockheed Martin. The sole-source deal could be handled through a Foreign Military Sale in which Canada would receive the equipment directly from the U.S. government. Asked why it was considering a HIMARS purchase from a country that was threatening to annex Canada, Department of National Defence spokesperson Kened Sadiku responded in an email that “the Long-Range Precision Strike (Land) project will significantly enhance Canada’s defence capabilities, both domestically and abroad. “This project is progressing well and we are expecting to share additional details in the coming months,” Sadiku added in his email to the Ottawa Citizen. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He noted that Canada’s procurement decisions were based on national security priorities, but added that the federal government was “closely monitoring the trade situation in the U.S., and assessing potential impacts to existing projects.” A 2024 Canadian Forces briefing on the Long Range Precision Fires project, obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, noted that the acquisition of the equipment could be worth approximately $5 billion. The project would involve purchasing launchers, fire control software, munitions and spare parts. The briefing included photos of HIMARS. The proposed acquisition, as well as other recent Canadian defence purchases, is being questioned by military analysts and Canadian industry officials. One defence industry official, who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution against his organization, said the Canadian military leadership was “tone deaf” to the threat posed by the Americans. Canada’s military leadership is pushing for a sole source deal for the U.S.-built High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or HIMARS. Photo by Sgt. Adam L. Mathis U.S. Depar /U.S. ARMY As recently as Feb. 12, Defence Minister Bill Blair downplayed the threat posed by Trump, saying that the president’s talk of annexing Canada is not a “real threat.” Blair’s office did not provide comment on the proposed HIMARS deal. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At a March 7 technical briefing about the purchase of new Canadian warships, equipped with large amounts of U.S. technology, Canadian defence officials stated military relations between the two nations remains strong. But, as analysts have pointed out, such relations are meaningless when Trump is the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military. The Canadian Forces is facing a dilemma in that the U.S. controls much of the technology on its equipment. For instance, the Americans have full control over software and hardware upgrades on Canada’s $19-billion fleet of F-35 fighter jets which are on order. The aircraft are being built by Lockheed Martin in the U.S. The Ottawa Citizen revealed Feb. 14 that defence industry officials had also warned that the U.S. controls many of the key systems onboard Canada’s new warships, allowing the Americans to hold this country hostage over future upgrades or even the provision of spare parts. Despite that, under pressure from the U.S., the Liberal government and military have doubled down on ordering American-supplied equipment. In 2023, it ordered almost $30 billion in new military systems, most of those exclusively from U.S. firms. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That included an $8-billion sole-source deal with Boeing for the purchase of new surveillance aircraft. Previously, Liberal cabinet ministers had claimed Boeing was not an industrial partner that could be trusted. Another $2.5 billion is being spent to purchase drones from a U.S. firm. The Liberal government had hoped the deals would placate American politicians who raised concerns Canada was not spending enough on defence. But the deals did not alter that criticism. Canadian defence suppliers have warned that the push by the Canadian Forces to buy American has provided little benefit for domestic firms. But the Canadian military leadership is close to their U.S. counterparts and is reluctant to shift its focus from America. Some retired Canadian Forces senior officers, such as former chief of the defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier, have voiced support for a Canada that is integrated more closely with the U.S. On Feb. 15, Hillier went on the social-media website X to express his support for Canadian businessman and Trump supporter Kevin O’Leary’s proposal for a common dollar, integrated border and immigration requirements with the U.S. https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canadian-forces-sole-source-u-s-weapons-trump

And then there’s this one: Years ago Mel Gibson lost his right to own a gun due to domestic violence conviction There is an impartial non-partsan process for citizens to apply to have gun ownership rights reinstated. MAGA appointees in DOJ fired an official for declining Gibson’s request DoJ official says she was fired after refusing to restore Mel Gibson’s gun rights https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/doj-official-fired-mel-gibson-gun So the people who claim to be crusaders against inappropriate political interference to the extent that Trudeau’s staff are supposedly not allowed to talk to his AG’s staff have no problem when Trump’s people fire bureaucrats for not giving special treatment to their friends

Just proving once again that MAGA is not about ending “canceling culture” or “free speech”

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found A French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration, said a French minister. “I learned with concern that a French researcher who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled,” Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister of higher education and research, said in a statement on Monday to Agence France-Presse published by Le Monde. “This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy,” the minister added. … https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained

Smol: Canada's military is far too deferential to the U.S. The dependency mindset at defence headquarters has been evolving for some time. With an increasingly bellicose American president, this is dangerous. Published Mar 20, 2025 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 3 minute read Canada uses a Leopard tank in Zhari District, southern Afghanistan, alongside U.S. infantry and U.S. Army Kiowa attack helicopters in 2007. Photo by Cpl. Jonathan Johansen Over the last few decades, Canada’s direction to our Armed Forces, at every level, has been to garner, expand and solidify close defence relations with the United States. Largely due to Canada’s neglect of its military, this has bred a consistent and increasing pattern of dependency and deference towards the U.S among our Forces and their leadership. Today’s generation of Canadian military officers and non-commissioned officers is the product of serving as an increasingly demilitarized and dependent appendage to an overbearingly dominant American military. An American military which, out of necessity, has had to act more like our defence caretakersand burden-bearers than true allies. A military behemoth whose president and commander-in-chief is now openly serious about annexing Canada. Which prompts an uncomfortably necessary question four our politicians: Does our military leadership have the mindset to deal with defence issues against an isolationist, pro-Russian U.S. administration hostile to Canada? For the last 40 years, in and out of uniform, I have observed a Canadian military that increasingly tends to adapt its collective mindset to that of the U.S. regarding strategy, planning, doctrine, tactics, leadership training, logistics and just about everything else. But why rely on the concerns and observations of a former army reserve captain like me? More indicative of today’s Canadian Armed Forces’ pro-U.S., deferential mindset can be seen in how the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces have officially declared and articulated their role with the U.S. over the years. In 2003, we chose not to directly take part in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. However, according to Eugene Lang, chief of staff to the then-defence minister, John McCallum, our military did not share that sentiment of non-engagement. In a 2011 article, Lang stated that the Canadian military “pushed really hard not to be in Afghanistan and instead be part of a full-blown boots-on-the-ground Iraq invasion.” Seems our generals in 2003 wanted Canadian troops to follow in lock-step as the U.S. bombed and blasted its way through Iraqi cities in search of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (which we know now did not exist). Then, of course, there were the revelations in recent years that, in 2013-14, the Canadian Armed Forces seriously entertained the idea of becoming fully integrated with the U.S. military when serving overseas. This meant Canadian and U.S military personnel would serve side-by-side in the same units under a supposed “unified” command. A total integration that exceeded even our prior colonial involvement with Great Britain in the First World War, when Canada had its separate units and formations. Because the idea was ultimately rejected, we can only speculate how much command and control the Pentagon would have been willing to delegate to Canada’s National Defence headquarters as part of this unified binational integrated overseas force. I think we all know the answer. Then there were the warm and fuzzy intentions behind the Canada-U.S. Civil Assistance Planagreement of 2008. This provided the framework for a structure that would allow U.S forces to enter Canada in the event of a perceived “national emergency” such as a purported terrorist attack. Of course, Canada has reciprocal power to move its military into the U.S in the event of an alleged “emergency.” But let’s understand how the general laws of diffusion might apply here. In the state our military is in, any commitment on the part of Canada to militarily guarantee the internal security and stability of the U.S. is about as substantial as tiny Luxembourg’s guarantee to protect and shield its NATO allies and neighbours, Germany and France, from Russian attack. Regardless of how our quasi-colonial military relationship with the United States will turn out, the national torch is that of our generals and admirals to hold on high in 2025 and beyond. Let’s just hope that the ground underfoot does not shift so hard and fast that they drop it. Robert Smol is a retired military intelligence officer and writer who served in the Canadian Armed Forces for more than 20 years. He is currently completing a PhD in military history. https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/military-deference-canada-us

Well Sweden wasn’t part of NATO until recently so not a preferred provider No the other fighter alternatives especially f-35 are high maintenance and need high end facilities and tools. You cannot sustain them for extended periods in an austere environment working out of the back of a truck. Speed also means time to intercept, time to target, ability to outrun adversaries and the air defences trying to target you. F35’s top speed is mach 1.6. Current CF-18 is mach 1.8., Gripen is mach 2.0 Long range missiles aren’t fool proof they can be countermeasures and as soon as the enemy is locked onto he will know you’re there. Beast mode requires the f-35 to carry all those extra weapons externally giving it the same radar cross section as f-16 or cf-18 thereby eliminating its greatest asset while making it even slower and less maneuverable. And guess what the enemy also has air superiority fighters with powerful radars and long range missiles notably the SU35 and similar variants from the family of SU27 derivatives that will be as able to see a “beast mode” F35 as they can anything else. Also when we’re flying off the wing of a trespassing Russian fighter they we’re escorting out of our airspace, all the long range missiles and stealth won’t mean a thing if suddenly it turns hostile. Global Politics during the post-cold war era has a little to do with it, Sweden not being a historical NATO member also has a lot to do with it. The industrial benefits a lot of countries signed up for when contributing tens of millions to developing the F-35 is a big factor also. But back then the global security threat was low, air superiority was assumed to be guaranteed and the main guiding principle was US interoperability when a coalition gathers to bomb terrorists or some underdeveloped country’s second-rate military. The world has changed now. No the F-35 is not that aircraft, like all aircraft there are tradeoffs. It is mot a magical master of all trades There’s a reason the USAF, USMC and USN continue to operate a wide mix of fighter aircraft including F-22, F-16, multiple F-15 variants, F/A-18, EA-18. And they still produce new F/A-18, EA-18, and F-15 doe their own use as well as export. Many if not most F35 customers also acquired either Typhoon or Rafale and/or are planning to operate existing 4th generation aircraft alongside it: UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece . Because they know F35 alone doesn’t cover all the bases and also they don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket. I wouldn’t mind any of them. Typhoon and Rafale are simply expensive to buy and maintain and not as rugged as Gripen but they are awesome. Since we’re stuck with a number of F-35s regardless a Gripen supplement seems reasonable. For the record I never said the Gripen should be our only fighter.

Not always. Often he says things that he knows to be false The defining characteristic of Trump isn’t whether he is liar or is too unfiltered to lie. The defining characteristic of Teump and the MAGA/right wing populist movement generally is that it is post-truth. This means that truth and beliefs simply don’t matter one way or the other and are not a factor in anything they say. In fact you’ll find that often they don’t have many well-formed beliefs at all. They mostly only have wants. They will say whatever they think it takes in the moment to satisfy their wants whether it’s based in truth or an absurd outlandish lie doesn’t matter. It could be a big want like annexing Canada and Greenland or a small impulsive want like deflecting a reporter’s embarrassing question. This is why they’re immune to embarrassment when their false claims are fact checked, debunked or exposed as illogical or hypocritical, it simply doesn’t matter to them or their supporters. We know Trump was doing more of his bullshitting because practically in the same breath he said that he said Trudeau was the worst and “nastiest” he had ever dealt with and also that he has said publicly that he doesn’t know anything about PP except that he’s stupid for not being MAGA. And IIRC not too long ago Trump once spoke positively about the then-expected conservative landslide victory in Canada. That sounds like the exact opposite of preferring liberals to conservatives. And of course there has never been a conservative government since Trump entered politics so what would he base any assessment of them on anyways? Trump’s comments is just another example of the world’s dumbest politician making the world’s most obvious attempt of reverse psychology possibly because he prefers conservatives and definitely because he’s trying to cover up for the damage he’s done to conservative parties across the western world Trump’s political incompetence has done more to boost the failing left and centre-left parties across Europe and Canada than anything else. Honestly it’s the Liberals who ought to be saying that they prefer Trump to Democrats.

The Gripen is not a joke it’s widely respected. But it’s not a perfect solution either.Neither is the F-35. All of these possible fighters have their designed purpose and limitations. The Gripen has short combat range and no 5th gen stealth but is fast and a true “home air defence” fighter that compared to the f-35 can scramble faster, turn around missions faster, and outmaneuver…all with highly advanced radar avionics and EW (but not as advanced as F35). It requires minimal maintenance between missions and can be maintained from virtually anywhere as it was designed with a mobile containerized truck-mounted maintenance kit. The aircraft was literally designed to disperse to remote areas and operate from stretches of highway with its mobile maintenance kit. F-35 is slow, slower than our current CF-18s even. It is as nimble as an elephant in cement shoes, can’t dogfight, can only carry a maximum of 2 short range sidewinder missiles and even then it can only carry them externally which will only make it slower and negates its greatest asset which is stealth. Its cannon only has enough ammunition for a 3-second burst. It’s entire aerial combat power is predicated on its ability to remain undetected and take out the enemy at long range with its maximum of 4 long range radar guided missiles. So if/when anti-radar countermeasures or EW defeat those missiles, it is very vulnerable at closer ranges even against 4th generation adversaries, But this is when Canada is doing arctic intercepts and escorting Russian planes away from our airspace it will eventually be at these close ranges. It’s also a high maintenance prima-donna that needs a lot of time on the ground being maintained so not only high lifecycle costs but high downtime at special designated facilities some of which are in the US. Most air forces have multiple types of fighter aircraft and so did RCAF for its entire history except for the CF-18 era. The only NATO forces with a single fighter are the smaller militaries like Belgium, Norway Denmark Netherlands a couple others….most of whom recently switched or are in the process of switching from F-16 to F-35. France only has Rafale but they have different configurations for different roles. We are stuck with at least 16 F-35 due to our contract so a balanced fleet with a mix of F35 and either Rafale or Gripen …due to cost I am assuming Gripen would be sufficient

Menaced by Trump, Canada Prepares to Join E.U. Military Industry Buildup Canada’s draft deal to participate in Europe’s defense industry will bring contracts to Canadian manufacturers and help lessen dependence on the United States. Canada is in advanced talks with the European Union to join the bloc’s new project to expand its military industry, a move that would allow Canada to be part of building European fighter jets and other military equipment at its own industrial facilities. The budding defense cooperation between Canada and the European Union, which is racing to shore up its industry to lower reliance on the United States, would boost Canada’s military manufacturers and offer the country a new market at a time when its relationship with the United States has become frayed. Shaken by a crisis in the two nations’ longstanding alliance since President Trump’s election, Canada has started moving closer to Europe. The military industry collaboration with the European Union highlights how traditional U.S. allies are deepening their ties without U.S. participation to insulate themselves from Mr. Trump’s unpredictable moves. Canada’s new leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney, this week made Paris and London the destinations of his first overseas trip since taking office on Friday, calling Canada “the most European of non-European countries.” Two officials, one from the European Union and one from Canada, with direct knowledge of the discussions said detailed talks were underway to incorporate Canada into the European Union’s new defense initiative. The goal is to boost the E.U.’s defense industry and eventually offer a credible alternative to the United States, which is now dominant. Specifically, the officials said, Canada would be able to become part of the European military manufacturing roster, marketing its industrial facilities to build European systems like the Saab Gripen jet, a competitor to the American F-35, which is made by Lockheed Martin. The officials requested anonymity to describe the talks because they were not authorized to brief the press and the negotiations were still ongoing. They said that no specific contracts had been discussed yet. The European Union is taking major steps to increase military spending, both loosening budget rules so that countries in the bloc can spend more and proposing a 150 billion euro loan program ($163 billion) to finance shared military development. That program is meant to prioritize European-made products, with 65 percent of component costs coming either from within the bloc or from partners that have signed a specific type of deal with it. Under the current talks, Canada would help supply the additional 35 percent and could go further if it brokered an additional agreement to participate even more closely. Canada, according to the terms of the discussion, would also be given preferential access to the E.U. market for military equipment, an alternative to buying equipment from the United States. In a similar way to the European Union, which is having to step up its aid to Ukraine rapidly as the United States limits its own, Canada is going through a rude awakening in terms of its lagging military capabilities and investments. It is among the NATO allies that has been criticized as under-spending on its military. The NATO goal is for members to invest at least 2 percent of economic output in defense. Canada spends only about 1.3 percent but has unveiled plans to ramp up to 2 percent by the end of the decade. Mr. Trump has been insisting that Canada should simply become part of the United States, citing the dependence on the American military as one argument. On Tuesday, Mr. Carney announced that Canada had struck a radar technology deal with Australia. Canada’s military industry, which is relatively small, has been used to produce Canadian equipment but has also been a regular contractor for building American military equipment or parts. Canadian factories across the vast country produce munitions, tanks, aircraft, technological defense systems and navy ships. An in-depth industry review in 2022 found that about half of Canada’s military equipment was exported and half kept domestically. The top export destination, by far, was the United States. Since Mr. Trump’s election, Canada has been increasingly aligning itself more closely with partners across the Atlantic, seeking to diversify trading partners and defense allies away from its core relationship with the United States. In a document prepared by the European Union to lay out the plans for its defense initiative, Canada was explicitly mentioned, hinting to the talks to absorb the country into the E.U. military industry project. Mr. Carney spoke with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, on Sunday, and military industrial cooperation was discussed on that call, the two officials said. “Our cooperation with Canada has intensified and should be further enhanced, also to strengthen trans-Atlantic security,” said the E.U. document, released on Wednesday. It added that talks were underway “including on respective initiatives to boost defense industry production.” To be sure, the European initiative and the Canadian partnership would take years to bear fruit. E.U. defense has been falling behind because of American dominance and underinvestment, and the drive to arm Ukraine depleted the arsenals of E.U. members. Ramping up production takes time, and firmed-up contracts for specific military equipment, to allow defense companies to invest in the production of extremely expensive items, like aircraft. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/world/canada/canada-eu-military-industry-trump.html