Keeping it Real…

It’s a whole new world out there! Might makes right; selfishness triumphs principles; mutual respect no longer has any place in global relations; and, the will of the local population need not reign supreme.

Donald Trump has introduced new norms and new rules.

“One way of another” the US President vowed his country NEEDS and would “get” Greenland: he said for national “security” reasons … but many believe it’s really for Greenland’s rare mineral deposits.

Security reasons?

Well, consider this:

Greenland is 1700 miles from the closest US point; but Point Roberts is only 1 foot away from BC!

What about OUR security???

Canada (and especially BC) NEED Point Roberts … so maybe we too should just “get it” ….under the new world order , “one way or another”!

Maybe not for their rare minerals, but certainly for their cheaper gas, cheaper eggs, cheaper booze and, in my case, much cheaper pipe tobacco … and, of course, OUR security … Taking Point Robert’s would distance us even more from all those gun-toting Americans …and, even more threatening to us ,Seattle Kraaken hockey fans!

Plus, the only way for Americans to travel by road to/from the US -owned (thanks to the 49th parallel treaty) tiny enclave south of Vancouver is via British Columbia’s roads and highways … and they pay us nothing for their use!!

Using the Mad Hatter’s logic, just think of the damage all those thankless Point Roberts residents (there are 1,276 of them) do to BC roads… as they travel back and forth to the US mainland: wearing away BC pavement, their tires erasing our high quality and very expensive traffic paint … especially when they cross our double lines! Yet, they pay us nil, nada to maintain any of it! Not even a few heavily discounted loonies!!!

And what about all the water that BC supplies to Point Roberts? Sure, they pay for that, but not as much as they should…whatever that price is! (Thinking here like Donald Trump! No real facts needed!)

Not to mention all the southbound fresh air the Americans have been stealing from us for more than a hundred years!! Time for a Golden Roof … to keep our fresh Canadian air home?

Or maybe it’s time for Canada to just take Point Roberts!

After all, remember what Trump said, in Davos just days ago:

”All the United Stares needs is a little piece of land … called Greenland.”

Little Greenland is 56,000 square miles; Point Robert’s is only 4.9 square miles.

Well, WE need it… for all these reason above, and … this is a BIG one … so Canadians can head south, escaping the snowy or rainy weather ….without having to cross a border!

I’m sure just the Tsawwassen and Delta police could do the job .. if we strike while the Point Roberts cops and border agents are busy … watching the Super Bowl!!!

And neither Trump , nor Hegseth could probably find Point Roberts on a map … or would care enough to even look it up!

Somehow, the way things are going down south lately, I’d even bet many Point Roberts residents would welcome us and thank us for liberating them!

Harv Oberfeld

(Follow @harveyoberfeld. on”X” for Free alerts to new postings on this blog.)

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Donald Trump has wreaked havoc on global trade; upset the free world’s co-operation and defence alliances; ignored International laws; threatened America’s traditional allies; and, used the US military against his own citizens.

In the case of Canada … the Mad Hatter has done ALL of the above .. and shown no real interest in resolving current disputes, or even re-opening negotiations.

So Prime Minister Mark Carney and Canada’s Premiers are quite justified in reaching out/exploring/achieving new or expanded trade and economic trade deals with other nations.

Within reason!

Carney/Canada must not grovel at the feet of despotic, undemocratic dictatorships or even supposed “democracies” that restrict/ignore/violate principles, rights, values Canadians hold dear.

The Prime Minister’s visit to China last week … and his recent kissy-kissy make-up session with India really bother me.

Has Carney already forgotten the totally unjustified inhuman conditions/imprisonment China arbitrarily inflicted on the two Michaels for 1,019 days; China’s repeated actions to interfere in Canadian elections; China’s intimidation of Chinese Canadians?

And what about Canada’s principles that stood up/spoke out and acted against China’s disgraceful, aggressive human rights violations against the Uighurs, Tibetans; the government’s oppression of dissent, the shutting down of newspapers/arrest of journalists and its repeated threats and intimidation of Taiwan; its illegal seizure and media owners; militarization of the East China Sea; and, its economic support of Russia’s murderous war against Ukraine?

Then, there’s India.

How can Carney embrace Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister whose government sanctioned the murder, in Canada, of a Sikh activist … a Canadian citizen; ignore the evidence the RCMP provided to a Parliamentary committee about “Indian Government Agents’ Involvement in Violent Criminal Activity in Canada”; the Indian government’s repeated attempts to interfere in Canadian elections: and just days ago, an RCMP report that the Bishnoy gang, accused of extortion and murder-for-hire in Canada has been “acting on behalf of the Indian government” ?

What about India’s brutal treatment of its Muslim and Christian minorities; it’s restrictions, arrests and attacks on press freedoms under Modi; its suppression of protests, including extra-judicial killings of government opponents; and, the Ukrainian blood on India’s hands from its huge financial support for Putin’s war of aggression by soaking up massive amounts of Russian oil?

Canada need not abandon our own efforts to support democracy, principled, ethical human rights and international policies and kowtow to India and China now!

Trade agreements with those two countries now will encourage them NOT to change, NOT to cut back on their aggression, NOT to stop their abuses of human rights. NOT to stop their interference inside Canada.

After all, under Carney’s standards, they can get away with it!

I get it: our economy is hurting due to the tariffs imposed by the Mad Hatter.

But Canadians endured far worse challenges, sacrificing and suffering during the SIX YEARS of the Second World … much worse than anyone alive today can imagine …and emerged victorious, with our heads held high.

Surely, the current generation can hold on for 10 months … until the US midterm elections … when Trump’s powers/policies will likely be severely reversed by a widely expected Democrat takeover of both the House and Senate!

In fact, the US Supreme Court could even roll back many/most of the Mad Hatter’s shoot-from-the-lip tariffs within days … and Trump’s/Republicans’ ever-declining polling numbers will very likely on their own lead to substantial Trump trade policy backdowns as early as this Spring.

Let’s keep it real: Trump every day moves closer to being a lame duck President … or, as he could (but won’t) say “maybe the the biggest lame duck President the US has ever seen.”

Geography, history, democratic principles, business, cultural, personal and family connections across the 49th parallel make Canada and the US far more natural long-term partners and allies than lowering ourselves to the morals/mores of China and India!

Hang in there, Canada … Trump’s days are numbered … and declining every day!

We should only trade with India and China on our terms … without selling out our principles, turning a blind eye and going silent to their brutalities, or forgetting how they have disrespected, mistreated, spied on and even murdered our citizens … and tried to subvert our democracy.

Harv Oberfeld

(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for free, First Alerts to new postings on this BC blog.)

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