Good. Many Canadians view Carney as a "war-time" PM and I think that's accurate.
The Trump administration has treated Canada and Canadians appallingly. It will take many years and another President, but I hope the U.S. can repair relations. The onus is on us.
Canada honored its commitments. The U.S. started this stupid trade war.
It’s gonna take more than a dem POTUS sucking up to us to fix this. MAGA will outlast Trump and the everlasting threat of another lunatic Republican president doing this crap again means this isn’t going away as easily as replacing a president.
Before Trump, there was Bush Jr. The world's view on him was also dim, but 9/11/2001 made the world cut the USA a lot of slack. It turns out he was the new normal, instead of a temporary savage spot. Trump is not the only USA leader in the back of the world's mind.
Bush II was awful in all sorts of ways; it's not crazy to say that as chaotic as Trump's first presidency was, it was nowhere near as destructive as Bush's terms. I in no way want to white-wash Bush, which I feel like some people have done in the wake of Trump.
But despite that, Bush's presidency was generally continuous with American presidencies since World War II. He still, at root, steered the ship as though he were a believer in the narrative of America as a leader of the free world, rather than as a selfish actor who needs to get one over on everyone else in order to get ahead. Regardless of the world's judgement of Bush, I don't think it sowed much doubt in many minds about their overall relationship with America, and not just because of 9/11 or because he was just one president. The US could have continued electing Bushes forever and not much would have changed.
Whereas: Trump's presidency - especially this second term - is utterly destabilizing. He's single-handedly destroyed America's soft power and place in the world.
I agree. I think it’s fair to say that while many people might agree Bush II is someone you could have a beer with compared to the current prest his foreign policy decisions lead to excess mortality in the range of half a million.
You missed South America. We did not trust the US before but are forced to give the US business preference as per the so called Monroe Doctrine, now with a "Trump Corollary"
Interesting that this comes as millions of Americans discover they have a claim to a Canadian passport thanks to recent rule changes. If they play they hand right (and maybe actually build housing) Canada could benefit from American brain drain.
It would be unsurprising if US-based conservative think tanks were already doing this. Worth noting that the ones we'd be unsurprised to see do this are neither conservative nor think tanks.
Conservative voting American here. I can’t imagine that happening, and have never heard of anything even remotely similar.
I read a variety of sources, and honestly the most critical things Ive seen about Canada involved Trudeau. ( The very most critical were about Trudeau dressing in blackface, which I admit mystifies me. )
I’d say the most prevalent attitude I see towards Canada is to wish you well. I think almost all Americans want for Canadians to be proud, independent neighbors.
P.S. Thank you for ‘Murdoch Mysteries’, which my family watched for several seasons. It got a little too… socially oriented ( preachy, woke ) in the latter seasons for our taste, but the early years were solid gold. Great show.
I did vote for Trump. I like some, but not all, of his policies.
It should not be surprising. Trump won the popular vote and all seven swing states. Even hardcore supporters tire of some of his antics. Supporters have accomplishments they can be happy with.
>have never heard of anything even remotely similar
And therein lies the problem. What the parent said is something the USA has practiced in dozens of countries. For just a single example, operation cyclone had the USA arming separatist militias to fight against the Soviet afghan government. You may be familiar with one of these militia members:
>the most well-known Arab financier and militant of the group during this period was Osama bin Laden, who would later found al-Qaeda and mastermind the September 11 attacks on the United States.
As a Canadian I feel like this country has some problems that contribute to the brain drain south. And I feel like Trump is definitely not our friend but the situation could have been helpful to stir us up to self reflection. But I fear that instead we will just try to recreate the former status quo by whatever means and call that a victory. But what it means is the inevitable decline of this country.
This seems like such a strange comment to make on an article about the leader of Canada advocating for exactly the sort of national reflection you’re talking about and explicitly calling for an end to that status quo you’re worried we’ll try to recreate.
As a Canadian I am afraid that the more bad behavior the USA exhibits on the world stage, the easier it becomes to scapegoat and not look within at our own problems.
It was maybe 15ish years ago when Blackberry was at its peak. A world with such a dominant tech company in Canada today seems comically impossible
> Carney's Davos speech (Jan 2026) evoked "workers of the world unite"
No it didn't. He gave it as an example of something people behind the Iron Curtain didn’t believe but parroted "to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along".
The man is a banker. The implication that Carney - arguably the most neoliberal leader Canada has ever seen - is a communist is absurd.
yeah exactly. it's bizarre to highlight that quote from his davos speech completley out of context. he inteded it as a way to completely discredit communism. and to ridicule the idea of unionization. he then spent 10 minutes passionately making the case for continuing the neoliberal capitalist agenda
That is...also a misrepresentation of what Carney was saying.
He was referencing the words of a writer from Czechia, a country where communism discredited itself, who discussed how people pretended not to notice the gap between the government's rhetoric and its actions, and compared it to how countries politely have pretended to ignore the gap between the aspirations of the "rules-based international order" and how it played out in practice.
Of course, he could have used as an example a different dissident who said something similar from a different country who operated under a different totalitarian regime. Or skipped the analogy to political repression altogether. You could say that reflects Carney's particular biases, I guess, but I wouldn't go further than that. At no point does he ridicule or even mention unionization.
i agree that discrediting communism wasn't really the topic of his talk. but the phrase is a call to unionization in itself. especially when shopkeepers use it, like in the story carney referenced. capable politicians don't leave clear subtext like that to chance. which is why it's bizarre to highlight it without context, like in OP's message. on its own it doesn't convey the scorn with which carney framed it
Translation: "I'm going to import another 10 million MENA/Indian immigrants for the pedophilic global capitalist elites and if you complain, you'll be labeled a racist and charged with a crime."
First off, the difference in diction between PM Mark Carney and other world leaders is startling. Clear, cogent reasoning with rhetoric meant to impart on the listener that the speaker respects them and the presentation of an actual plan instead of just concepts of one is refreshing.
Second. I've been finding it more and more difficult to communicate online with Americans or people who have succumbed to contemporary American-brained thinking. There's something corrosive about being surrounded by slurred, infantile thinking, it seems like even the most intelligent people will eventually succumb to it and regurgitate it back because they see it as the easy road and suffer no immediate consequences for doing so.
It's extremely frustrating to see this come from American oligarchs who bend the knee to a mad king with a sexual penchant for young girls. To satiate their greed people like Sam Altman and Tim Cook align themselves with the worst of American society and unctuously flatter them with gaudy bauble bribes and obsequious speeches. Sure it serves their immediate purposes but what are the long term consequences of this? Do these people realize that every time they sell a piece of their soul to increase their personal wealth it destroys a piece of their society? Do they care?
It seems like America is rudderless now, a living ghost shambling into an uncertain but terminal future. Other countries see that now and there's a strong 'if it bleeds we can kill it' vibe after watching America deplete years of missile stocks against Iran only to watch China begin to resupply Iranian stockpiles to provide the Americans with another opportunity to deplete years more.
> Do these people realize that every time they sell a piece of their soul to increase their personal wealth it destroys a piece of their society? Do they care?
you should look into how wealthy elites live. this is not "their" society, they are completley detached from it. their homes are surrounded by tall walls [0]. they have their own neighbourhoods. they buy themselves islands to party on. they fly there using private jets. they talk with each other in private signal groups or at off-the-record clubs. they build themselves bunkers. they invest in chartered cities. that is the psychology of wealthy people. they are not and do not wish to be a part of society
in fact, they don't want society to exist as society at all. because while they unite and collude, they simultaneously discourage everyone else from doing the same. in his davos speech [1], carney himself quoted the phrase "workers of the world unite" in order to discredit it. he gave it as an example of dishonesty, something worthy of scorn. due to its use by communist regimes. historically his point is valid. but the subtext is clear
Pointing that whatever people think they are doing is not working does not mean we have to propose a solution. I'd suggest revolution, but that won't ever happen in the US.
* focus locally; getting invoked with local politics by supporting local candidates with your time and effort - the state department runs programs to talk to city and state officials concerning foreign policy matters and city’s and local governments can create pressure on federal representatives from those states.
* vote with your wallet; boycotts and divestments are tools ordinary people have to effect conglomerates. Ensure your retirement money is not invested with companies engaging with the political ideas you do not agree with
* protest; attending in person events shows leaders numbers and images that are harder to ignore than their consultants’ polling data.
I feel like the current state of Canada is a reflection of where things would have continued going post-2024 had something not interrupted the flow. I mean look how long the acronym has grown since then: MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+.
It takes much longer to regain trust that it takes to lose it.
Good. Many Canadians view Carney as a "war-time" PM and I think that's accurate.
The Trump administration has treated Canada and Canadians appallingly. It will take many years and another President, but I hope the U.S. can repair relations. The onus is on us.
Canada honored its commitments. The U.S. started this stupid trade war.
It’s gonna take more than a dem POTUS sucking up to us to fix this. MAGA will outlast Trump and the everlasting threat of another lunatic Republican president doing this crap again means this isn’t going away as easily as replacing a president.
Before Trump, there was Bush Jr. The world's view on him was also dim, but 9/11/2001 made the world cut the USA a lot of slack. It turns out he was the new normal, instead of a temporary savage spot. Trump is not the only USA leader in the back of the world's mind.
Bush II was awful in all sorts of ways; it's not crazy to say that as chaotic as Trump's first presidency was, it was nowhere near as destructive as Bush's terms. I in no way want to white-wash Bush, which I feel like some people have done in the wake of Trump.
But despite that, Bush's presidency was generally continuous with American presidencies since World War II. He still, at root, steered the ship as though he were a believer in the narrative of America as a leader of the free world, rather than as a selfish actor who needs to get one over on everyone else in order to get ahead. Regardless of the world's judgement of Bush, I don't think it sowed much doubt in many minds about their overall relationship with America, and not just because of 9/11 or because he was just one president. The US could have continued electing Bushes forever and not much would have changed.
Whereas: Trump's presidency - especially this second term - is utterly destabilizing. He's single-handedly destroyed America's soft power and place in the world.
I agree. I think it’s fair to say that while many people might agree Bush II is someone you could have a beer with compared to the current prest his foreign policy decisions lead to excess mortality in the range of half a million.
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article%3Fid%3D10.137...
I fear it's going to take more than just one other president.
Now we've all see what one bad POTUS can do to the world, and I don't know if/how/why the world would trulyove past that.
It reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode "The Shelter" [0].
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shelter_(The_Twilight_Zone...
It's not just Canada, who is going to trust US anymore?
Certainly no Europe after tarrifs, NATO, Ukraine, and this war..
Certainly not GCC after this war
Certainly not Asia after this war
Certainly not Japan after the awful "nuke" jokes and abuses .. like really? Who is on US aside?
Dems can try all they want, but the US trust is gone imo.
You missed South America. We did not trust the US before but are forced to give the US business preference as per the so called Monroe Doctrine, now with a "Trump Corollary"
Interesting that this comes as millions of Americans discover they have a claim to a Canadian passport thanks to recent rule changes. If they play they hand right (and maybe actually build housing) Canada could benefit from American brain drain.
It wasn’t a surprise to us. It’s how Canadians already feel. Threaten our sovereignty and that’s what happens.
It won't be long now before the US imposes sanctions on Ottawa and funds separatist movements across Canada.
Canada separatists accused of ‘treason’ after secret talks with US state department https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/29/david-eby-albe...
It would be unsurprising if US-based conservative think tanks were already doing this. Worth noting that the ones we'd be unsurprised to see do this are neither conservative nor think tanks.
This MP is best buds with JD Vance:
https://provincialtimes.ca/questions-mount-over-jamil-jivani...
Conservative voting American here. I can’t imagine that happening, and have never heard of anything even remotely similar.
I read a variety of sources, and honestly the most critical things Ive seen about Canada involved Trudeau. ( The very most critical were about Trudeau dressing in blackface, which I admit mystifies me. )
I’d say the most prevalent attitude I see towards Canada is to wish you well. I think almost all Americans want for Canadians to be proud, independent neighbors.
P.S. Thank you for ‘Murdoch Mysteries’, which my family watched for several seasons. It got a little too… socially oriented ( preachy, woke ) in the latter seasons for our taste, but the early years were solid gold. Great show.
Asking just to be sure: does “conservative voter” imply that you endorse the trump administration?
A bit surprised to see this on hn at this time.
I did vote for Trump. I like some, but not all, of his policies.
It should not be surprising. Trump won the popular vote and all seven swing states. Even hardcore supporters tire of some of his antics. Supporters have accomplishments they can be happy with.
>voting American here
>have never heard of anything even remotely similar
And therein lies the problem. What the parent said is something the USA has practiced in dozens of countries. For just a single example, operation cyclone had the USA arming separatist militias to fight against the Soviet afghan government. You may be familiar with one of these militia members:
>the most well-known Arab financier and militant of the group during this period was Osama bin Laden, who would later found al-Qaeda and mastermind the September 11 attacks on the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone
Do you just pretend the US's history of undermining states in central and south America doesn't exist?
No, I said I have never heard an American say they believed we should bring harm to Canada.
The consensus seems to be that they are a good neighbor, but different from the US in some aspects. Some, but not all, envy things like healthcare.
As a Canadian I feel like this country has some problems that contribute to the brain drain south. And I feel like Trump is definitely not our friend but the situation could have been helpful to stir us up to self reflection. But I fear that instead we will just try to recreate the former status quo by whatever means and call that a victory. But what it means is the inevitable decline of this country.
This seems like such a strange comment to make on an article about the leader of Canada advocating for exactly the sort of national reflection you’re talking about and explicitly calling for an end to that status quo you’re worried we’ll try to recreate.
As a Canadian I am afraid that the more bad behavior the USA exhibits on the world stage, the easier it becomes to scapegoat and not look within at our own problems.
It was maybe 15ish years ago when Blackberry was at its peak. A world with such a dominant tech company in Canada today seems comically impossible
If it helps, it seems like half my family (well educated US-Ian’s) have a cit0001 application in to reverse the brain drain
For additional context:
- Carney's Davos speech (Jan 2026) evoked "workers of the world unite" [1];
- Carney's pre-election speech (Mar 2025) claimed the old relationship with the US is over [2]; and
- Trump's handling of Canada relations, particularly with the tariff frenzy, basically ended up giving the election to Carney [3].
This administration is busy destroying the relationships and institutions that the US created for America's interests like NATO.
[1]: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/davos-2026-special-a...
[2]: https://speakola.com/political/mark-carney-response-to-trump...
[3]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ypz7yx73wo
> Carney's Davos speech (Jan 2026) evoked "workers of the world unite"
No it didn't. He gave it as an example of something people behind the Iron Curtain didn’t believe but parroted "to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along".
The man is a banker. The implication that Carney - arguably the most neoliberal leader Canada has ever seen - is a communist is absurd.
yeah exactly. it's bizarre to highlight that quote from his davos speech completley out of context. he inteded it as a way to completely discredit communism. and to ridicule the idea of unionization. he then spent 10 minutes passionately making the case for continuing the neoliberal capitalist agenda
That is...also a misrepresentation of what Carney was saying.
He was referencing the words of a writer from Czechia, a country where communism discredited itself, who discussed how people pretended not to notice the gap between the government's rhetoric and its actions, and compared it to how countries politely have pretended to ignore the gap between the aspirations of the "rules-based international order" and how it played out in practice.
Of course, he could have used as an example a different dissident who said something similar from a different country who operated under a different totalitarian regime. Or skipped the analogy to political repression altogether. You could say that reflects Carney's particular biases, I guess, but I wouldn't go further than that. At no point does he ridicule or even mention unionization.
i agree that discrediting communism wasn't really the topic of his talk. but the phrase is a call to unionization in itself. especially when shopkeepers use it, like in the story carney referenced. capable politicians don't leave clear subtext like that to chance. which is why it's bizarre to highlight it without context, like in OP's message. on its own it doesn't convey the scorn with which carney framed it
>"workers of the world unite"
Translation: "I'm going to import another 10 million MENA/Indian immigrants for the pedophilic global capitalist elites and if you complain, you'll be labeled a racist and charged with a crime."
Oh, it seems this has been Canadian flagged for some reason. Probably somebody favoring another flag got upset.
Politics are generally off topic and tend to be flagged.
The speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2TZwkhi4E
First off, the difference in diction between PM Mark Carney and other world leaders is startling. Clear, cogent reasoning with rhetoric meant to impart on the listener that the speaker respects them and the presentation of an actual plan instead of just concepts of one is refreshing.
Second. I've been finding it more and more difficult to communicate online with Americans or people who have succumbed to contemporary American-brained thinking. There's something corrosive about being surrounded by slurred, infantile thinking, it seems like even the most intelligent people will eventually succumb to it and regurgitate it back because they see it as the easy road and suffer no immediate consequences for doing so.
It's extremely frustrating to see this come from American oligarchs who bend the knee to a mad king with a sexual penchant for young girls. To satiate their greed people like Sam Altman and Tim Cook align themselves with the worst of American society and unctuously flatter them with gaudy bauble bribes and obsequious speeches. Sure it serves their immediate purposes but what are the long term consequences of this? Do these people realize that every time they sell a piece of their soul to increase their personal wealth it destroys a piece of their society? Do they care?
It seems like America is rudderless now, a living ghost shambling into an uncertain but terminal future. Other countries see that now and there's a strong 'if it bleeds we can kill it' vibe after watching America deplete years of missile stocks against Iran only to watch China begin to resupply Iranian stockpiles to provide the Americans with another opportunity to deplete years more.
Where does America go from here?
> Do these people realize that every time they sell a piece of their soul to increase their personal wealth it destroys a piece of their society? Do they care?
you should look into how wealthy elites live. this is not "their" society, they are completley detached from it. their homes are surrounded by tall walls [0]. they have their own neighbourhoods. they buy themselves islands to party on. they fly there using private jets. they talk with each other in private signal groups or at off-the-record clubs. they build themselves bunkers. they invest in chartered cities. that is the psychology of wealthy people. they are not and do not wish to be a part of society
in fact, they don't want society to exist as society at all. because while they unite and collude, they simultaneously discourage everyone else from doing the same. in his davos speech [1], carney himself quoted the phrase "workers of the world unite" in order to discredit it. he gave it as an example of dishonesty, something worthy of scorn. due to its use by communist regimes. historically his point is valid. but the subtext is clear
[0] https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/inside-jeff-bezo...
[1] https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/davos-2026-special-a...
And of course it's now flagged…
My dear friends to the north: I just want to repeat how sorry many of us are for this.
And that some of us are trying to change the situation. My reps have heard from me multiple times.
Ah yes, strongly worded letters. That is the way to fix things. They must be trembling in fear at the weight of your words.
What do you suggest?
Pointing that whatever people think they are doing is not working does not mean we have to propose a solution. I'd suggest revolution, but that won't ever happen in the US.
* focus locally; getting invoked with local politics by supporting local candidates with your time and effort - the state department runs programs to talk to city and state officials concerning foreign policy matters and city’s and local governments can create pressure on federal representatives from those states.
* vote with your wallet; boycotts and divestments are tools ordinary people have to effect conglomerates. Ensure your retirement money is not invested with companies engaging with the political ideas you do not agree with
* protest; attending in person events shows leaders numbers and images that are harder to ignore than their consultants’ polling data.
These really feel hollow. Just like "thoughts and prayers." ACK.
What would you consider more appropriate?
I'm not willing to start another actual civil war over Trump's presidency.
I figured an apology was at least an improvement over not apologizing.
FWIW, I'm a Canadian and I do appreciate it. There's a lot of raw feelings up here, but I know there's only so much any individual can do.
I apologize as well; however, they need to diversify. They can't count on the USA.
I feel like the current state of Canada is a reflection of where things would have continued going post-2024 had something not interrupted the flow. I mean look how long the acronym has grown since then: MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+.