My sister sent me this picture the other day and it set off a bunch of memories. It was taken by my parents while the two of us were trying to sort out sleighs and toboggans in January of 1956. Sixty-nine years ago now.
We were new to Canada, having immigrated from Malaysia, so moving from the equator to the Great White North meant a lot of change. Playing in the snow was a big deal, and we couldn’t get enough. So was the idea of Canada itself: vast in size, exciting, diverse and proud of its past, with enormous potential for its future.
In those days there were only 48 states south of the border, Hawaii and Alaska were still a few years away from joining. And so, Canadians would laugh when someone would wonder aloud about us being the 49th state – the relationship with the U.S. was great, but there was no need for anything more structured. And in spite of the Kevin O’Learys around today, about eighty percent of Canadians still tell pollsters they aren’t interested in any changes now either. (And BTW, let’s not forget it was only a few years ago that O’Leary wanted to be prime minister, until he ran out of backing and dropped out of the race for the Conservative leadership, a loser.)
Which brings us to Donald Trump’s continuous ramblings about grabbing Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal so he can be some American version of his pal and land grabber Vladimir Putin. Oh yes, and Trump also wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. To be fair, he might be able to do at least that. Let’s not forget the North Sea used to be called the German Sea (and some maps still show it as that) until the Brits decided, basically on their own, to rename it during the First World War.
All this comes at a time when Canada is basically rudderless. We have a lame-duck prime minister, and a race for his job that so far is still waiting for a star candidate to step forward. That includes the supposed “prince in waiting,” the candidate every pundit (including me) has been talking about for years now. One assumes the “game on” signal will go off next week as the big names, such as they are, who actually want to take a run at the top job will jump in the race.
And if you think the opening questions will be about carbon tax, inflation, housing, pipelines etc etc, maybe it's time to think again.
Many instead will be about Trump, the 51st state, and quite possibly all the related Trump hangers on - from Elon Musk to Jordan Peterson to, I was going to say O’Leary but I don’t think things will go that low.
There’s been lots written about the 51st state discussion, so let’s get into it with this overview from Stephen Hunt, a digital producer for CTV in Calgary:
'True when I said it, true today': former Canadian PM Harper pushes back against Trump on social media Read >
One thing we know about Donald Trump, and he’s very good at it, is this: when something he’s doing is causing him problems, he throws something wild and woolly out there to confuse the watchers.
While I still think he’s more serious than just trolling about all this Canada, Greenland, Panama stuff it’s also an easy story to tell. The North American media loves it and has spent hours on it this week with Trump baiting them along, feeding scraps every day. The US news channels, and Canadian ones, are eating it up and booked everyone they could to talk about it. It got so desperate that CNN even called me to do a chat with one of their anchors. I said no, but I’ll admit I declined only because I was already booked for something else.
Anyway, all this annex Canada talk meant a lot less talk on what’s possibly a much more important yet complicated story to tell and one that has been causing Trump problems. Don Lenihan wrote this for National Newswatch:
America First—The View from the 51st State Read >
Like many Canadians, I have friends in the United States. In fact, in many places in the U.S, including California and specifically Los Angeles. So, these have been an anxious few days.
These devastating wildfires haven’t just impacted various neighborhoods, they’ve hit the whole city. Everyone is affected. Every friend I have there has either been ordered to evacuate their homes just in case, or worse, they’ve lost their homes.
And for those who have suffered loss, the news gets even worse. While many people are still denying the impact a changing climate can have on our lives, insurance company leaders are not one of them. Especially in California where the companies have been changing their policies in the last year and some people are likely to be in for a real surprise. Check this out in the Daily Mail:
Insurers dropped fire coverage for thousands of homeowners in Palisades just months ago as experts fear devastation could cost $60bn Read >
When I was a youngster my friends and I used to be fascinated by stories about lost cities suddenly discovered in jungles around the world. Sometimes lost tribes.
I even remember a story that had us talking for days about a Japanese soldier who’d been lost in a jungle in Southeast Asia and when he was discovered he still thought the war was on. It was, I think, 1962.
Anyway, those days are long gone, right? Hundreds of satellites circling the globe see everything. No more lost cities.
Wrong. Here’s one:
A new ancient city was recently discovered Read >
Wait, there’s more for you “show me more I didn’t know” nerds. If you want more, you’ll love this one, but you have to go deep, like really deep.
For that I link you to one of my favourite sites, studyfinds.org:
Scientists mystified by massive structures found deep beneath the Pacific Ocean Read >
And finally, what would the Buzz be without a media story?
Here’s one that I’m told is causing all kinds of consternation and investigation at Fox News, and for good reason:
Trump camp was fed questions for Fox News town hall in advance from person inside network, new book says Read >
