Comment by StephenHerlihyy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by StephenHerlihyy | Hacker News Reader

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StephenHerlihyy

1) Multi-year delay in banning Huawei from 5G networks: https://www.ndp.ca/news/ndp-statement-huawei-ban-canadian-5g...

Took Canada 4-years longer than the rest of the Five Eyes alliance to ban them, prompting the Biden administration to threaten to terminate the agreement.

2) NORAD/Ballistic missile defense (Not just NATO): https://canadiandefencereview.com/norad-modernization-closin...

Canada chooses not to participate in the defense of North America from potential threats, deferring the cost and military response entirely to the United States.

3) Canadian Digital Services tax: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/ties-and-knots-bind-uni...

4) Lax enforcement of cartel money laundering: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/trump-and-fentany...

The roughly 100 organized crime groups operating in Canada (including three groups dedicated to supplying fentanyl) are partly drawn to loopholes and lax penalties that allow fentanyl-related money-laundering operations to flourish.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-money-laundering-pro...

5) Weak enforcement against counterfeit goods: https://macleans.ca/economy/why-canada-is-a-haven-for-knock-...

Canada remains the only G7 country on the 2025 USTR Watch List. The 2025 USTR Special 301 Report again expressed concerns with Canada's perceived lack of IP enforcement, particularly at the border and against online piracy.

6) Canada undercutting American efforts to de-risk from China: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/glob...

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/as-t...

I tried to avoid some of the more common ones, like NATO spending, trade dispute, etc. A lot of this stuff, like providing for the common defense, don't make it easy for cartels launder money, don't look the other way on counterfeit goods, aren't unreasonable demands.

1) The delay came at a tricky time. Canada had arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on behalf of the USA, and China disappeared two Canadian citizens in retaliation.

4 & 5) Canada has a gun problem, and the guns originate from the USA. Canada has a problem with sick Americans crossing the border and buying meds meant for Canadians. American cross-border concerns about Canada don't hold a candle to that.

6) This is a strange expectation. If it had merit, then the reverse would, too: America is guilty of undercutting Canada's efforts to maintain global free trade.

So that leaves NORAD and the Digital Services tax.

To my mind, it seems like Canada primarily is guilty of being a nation with a few priorities and interests of its own, rather than a state.

This is your evidence? This is meaningless. The problem is, you’re applying reasoning backwards. You’re starting with the assumption that Trump’s ramblings are justified, so you search for whatever you can find that supports his side, and thus conclude that this evidence is sufficient to justify his claims, because it’s all the evidence out there. Instead of actual reasoning, which would be to start with the question “are his claims justified?”, searching for evidence for and against, and realizing that these few articles in support are dwarfed by the hundreds of billion dollars in trade between the two countries.

Your argument stems from the idea that Canada is not its own country, and that Canadians cannot have their own interests or opinions on how things should be handled.

How dare they not follow the rules and behave like the other 50 states!

This is exactly what Trump's attitude is, and it's why Canadians are angry.

If we look at history, it's no surprise that the US's alliances are fleeing and temporary.

The US doesn't really have any real allies, as any ally could be betrayed for any reason at any time.

Just look at all the betrayals that Trump was personally responsible for, such as Afghanistan, NATO, Canada, Ukraine, the Kurds, and Syria. Poor Kurds have to watch as Trump shakes hands with the leader of Al-Qaeda, who is currently carrying out ethnic cleansing and massacring people.

Alliances should be mutual. What has the US done for Canada lately, especially considering the outrageous demands? Like what has the US done that benefitted Canada, but also cost the US at least in some way (so no BS about "US is growing and Canada is having some of the pie")? In what way has the US suffered and didn't grab as much as it was able to, just so Canada-the-ally would also be taken care of? When has the Trump's US acted like a real ally/friend instead of a volatile backstabbing bandit with the "winner takes it all and I don't care what happens after" attitude?

I claim that Canada has been much more of an ally to the US than vice versa.

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