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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · 25/09/2026

“Atlantic nation,” “Pacific nation,” “Arctic nation”—Ottawa has long used these labels to signal its foreign policy ambitions and reduce Canada’s dependence on the US. What do they mean today amid fractured US trade relations? ow.ly/4mMF50ZRjxf

On the left: Photo of Prime Minister Mark Carney standing before a screen showing the EU flag and concentric rings of light. On the right: text that reads “Bullied by the US, Canada has a history of reaching out to Europe. The strategy hasn’t always paid off. Will it for Carney? ”

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

This is why it makes little sense for Canadians to hope that a comprehensive “deal” is possible with the US as long as Trump is president

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Kash Patel's "get to stepping" criticism of Canada is just the latest in an organized campaign by the Trump administration to convince Americans that Canadians are responsible for the fentanyl crisis afflicting the US. For a sample: nossalk.org/2025/05/19/d...

nossalk.org

Die große Lüge: The Trump administration’s drumbeat of claims that Canada is a major source of fentanyl

Although US Customs and Border Patrol data reveal that only about 0.2% of all seizures of fentanyl entering the US are made at the Canadian border ( and although Canada was not mentioned at all in …

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

This is the latest in a concerted campaign since November to convince Americans that Canada is a major contributor to their fentanyl crisis. Trump, Vance, Navarro, Hassett and now Patel have all “blamed Canada.” Time to start calling it out for the Nazi-style große Lüge that it is.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Given Trump's dismissive comments about Carney's visit today, does the PM really want to sit in what @kevinmilligan.bsky.social has so aptly called the "Humiliation Chair" so that Trump can later characterize his visit as evidence of yet more "ass-kissing"? /x

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Trump sneered as he recounted what other leaders supposedly said to him: "'Please, please, sir, make a deal; I'll do anything, sir.'" IMO @stewartprest.ca has it exactly right: the PM should move tonight to "reschedule" the meeting and just fly back to Ottawa. No explanation. /3

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Trump on the purpose of the PM's visit: “I don’t know. He’s coming to see me. I’m not sure what he wants to see me about, but I guess he wants to make a deal.” A month ago Trump was bragging that leaders were "kissing my ass" in order to make a trade deal. (www.theguardian.com/us-news/vide...) /2

theguardian.com

’They are kissing my ass’: Trump says countries are pleading to negotiate tariffs – video

US president says countries are ’calling up and kissing my ass’ over tariff rates

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Trump's interview with Time shows his Inaugural Address promise that the US would again be a "growing nation," one that "expands our territory" and "carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons" is still on the agenda. See my opinion piece in the latest Round Table: nossalk.org/2025/04/25/d...

nossalk.org

Dreaming in Technicolor™? Donald J. Trump and the Annexation of Canada

Just days after he won the 2024 election, Donald J. Trump began talking about Canada becoming America’s 51st state. He has been pressing the case for annexation ever since — in social media posts, …

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Roland Paris @rolandparis.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

From a negotiating perspective, racing to the White House to offer concessions is not the best strategy. That’s what Trump is counting on, but domestic pressure on him to compromise will continue to intensify, particularly if major US trade partners use this moment to match his tariffs.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Roland Paris @rolandparis.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Dear countries hit by Trump's tariffs: Now is the time to retaliate. If you instead start with concessions, Trump will simply pocket them, claim victory, and demand more. He will bend in the face of the economic and political costs at home - and they are now mounting.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

“So unbelievably stupid, incompetent and insane.”

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Canada’s travel advisory for the US needs to go well beyond the present highly ambiguous “Take normal security precautions.”

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

The Chief Penguin of Heard and McDonald in the “humiliation chair” (h/t @kevinmilligan.bsky.social)

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

It’s 9am TFT time here, and citizens are already gathering to protest Tariffs by the United States. Our plain clothes Officer Penguins are attempting to maintain calm, but unfortunately we keep losing them in the crowd.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Bessma Momani @bmomani.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Why would Canada want to ‘reward’ the Trump administration with even the perception of acquiescence in continuing through with these purchases? Not a commentary on whether CAF or DND needs these F-35. The perception in DC would be a win. Why would Ottawa ‘give’ them that?

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

This Substack needs to go to every Liberal and CPC candidate. Ask why their leaders are making tax cuts the most important campaign issue instead of the annexationist threat — which will require huge tax *increases* to deal with effectively. Make this make sense.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

For those who think the way out of the annexationist threat is a renegotiated trade agreement, this by @bhaggart.bsky.social is a reminder that we should just skip this bit of psychodrama, since we won’t be able to trust any “treaty” signed by this admin. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

theglobeandmail.com

Opinion: Canada’s free-trade agreement with the U.S. has no free trade, nor is it an agreement

Withdrawing from the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement may sound like a radical proposal. It is not. It simply acknowledges reality

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 24/03/2025

At a time when Canada needs MASSIVE investment to transition away from the US, to build new facilities and transpo towards our ports, to rebuild our military, to build HOMES, to rebuild science and post-sec ed... to see the two main parties jump on *tax cuts* for their campaigns is depressing.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Ross O'Connor @oconnor.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

The UK Germany, Denmark and Finland have issued advisories warning about travel to the US, and Canada should too. We often go to the US in the summer but this year? Forget it, not worth it.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

In times of peace Canadians have always spent as little as we can get away with on defence because we have never had to pay a price for our cheapness. But we have never faced a US president who is so openly committed to our elimination as a sovereign state. So that might be a game changer.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

This is *exactly* what is needed given the existential threat posed by the Trump annexationist agenda. But our governors need to begin leveling with us: stop pretending that facing down Trump can be done on the cheap. We need to spend seriously on defence; we will need to be taxed seriously…

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

and all those partners in these new negotiations will have confidence that the US will abide by the results, said nobody

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Roland Paris @rolandparis.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

“The specific association of Canada with fentanyl is a big lie that allows Americans to shift responsibility away to a chosen enemy and enter a world of geopolitical fantasy.”

open.substack.com

Blame Canada

Our warmongering, drugged-out conspiracy theory

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

IMO, no, this is not a good idea. All defence acquisitions should be paused until after the election, when the govt should conduct a full defence policy review.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Ross O'Connor @oconnor.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Canada, alone. (That is not a lamentation, just a statement of fact).

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Agree 100%. NATO Sec-Gen Mark Rutte surely must be regretting his decision to appear on the “Oval Show” in order to suck up to Trump and have a good laugh — and then have to sit there silently while Trump babbled on about two NATO members: annexing Canada and seizing territory from Denmark.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Rop Gonggrijp @rop.gonggri.jp · 14/03/2025

Piece on F-35 fighter and the dependencies that come with it. ioplus.nl/en/posts/can...

Screenshot of snippet from text at URL from post:

The real Achilles heel of the F-35 lies in the Mission Data Files (MDF), which are essential to the aircraft's combat capabilities. A 90-strong team at the American Air Force base Eglin manages these electronic combat manuals. Without regular MDF updates, the aircraft becomes vulnerable to new threats. These files contain crucial information about enemy radars and anti-aircraft systems and are indispensable for planning flight paths that are difficult to detect. The lack of a European capacity to produce and update these files makes the F-35 fleet potentially vulnerable to American policy decisions.

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Reposted by Kim Richard Nossal

Steve Saideman @smsaideman.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

I am seeing the same thing in my time in Berlin and last week's visit to Stockholm. Europe is taking defense more seriously not because they are giving into Trump but because they see the Russian threat more clearly and they can't trust the US to show up if needed.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Agree. We need to start thinking about what will be required to rebuff existential threats from an increasingly hostile administration in Washington — but we need to recognize that the costs will be huge.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

The reported decision of the Trump administration to cut off upgrades for the jamming systems used in Ukraine's F-16s adds weight to the concern of @bhaggart.bsky.social that the F-35s Canada is purchasing could too easily be "bricked" by an administration that is increasingly hostile to Canada.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Politically difficult, but let us not turn into Trump and rip up agreements we have signed. The alternative — paying the full penalty for a cancellation, dropping out of F-35 production, and leaving us having to start the process of replacing our 45-year old CF-18s all over — is not appealing.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

And the key question is whether Canadians are willing to bear such huge costs. Are Canadians sufficiently seized of the existential threat that the US under Trump poses to Canada's independence that they are willing to abandon our traditional stinginess on defence?

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

A "pause" might have been possible had we not waited so long to replace our CF-18s. Also, LM is not the problem: they could lobby the White House until they are blue in the face, but no US admin — and certainly not this America First one — will agree to autonomous use.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

I think that we should take Trump literally: asked if he would use military force to acquire Canada, Trump responded “No — economic force." I think Trudeau had it right: the intent is to tank the Canadian economy to make annexation easier.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Would it not have been really difficult to persuade folks in the West that a back-up plan for possible abandonment was necessary given that every U.S. administration down to 2017 was committed to maintaining an order that generally worked well for the interests of the ~50 countries of the West?

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

I don’t disagree that the deterioration is more advanced than many think. Which is why I think that we could reduce our exposure in the short/medium term by acquiring what in essence would be a “NORAD fleet”

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

I am assuming that a source code "replacement" option would only occur if relations between the US and its former allies had deteriorated completely.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Agreed that we cannot know if there is a back-door "kill switch," but even if there isn't the US will retain control unless non-US operators are given permission to access the source code.

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Thanks for the shout-out, Mercedes!

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Yes, there would be penalties, but smaller, and would be offset by benefits (domestic build, enhanced connection to Europe/Nordics) On code: surely theoretically possible - but I agree: relations would have to sink to a nadir for this to be an implementable possibility

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

The CF-35As will start flowing in 2026; the govt could start procuring an alternative fleet on a sole-source basis as soon as it wanted

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Too true. The US firms are caught: Trump’s whims may carry the day

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Kim Richard Nossal @kimnossal.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Very true. If that happened other European options might be pursued. But we need to rethink our dependence that came from a desire to maximize interoperability during the “American world”.

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