By Scott Taylor
Late last week, US President Donald Trump posted yet another threat to punish Canada and the European Union (EU) should we dare to lessen the blows of his tariffs through increasing trade with each other.
Of course in the mind of Trump it is the US and himself personally that are under attack. In his post to Truth Social, Trump wrote, “If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!’”
Given that the EU is actually a trading bloc of 29 member states, I'm sure Trump meant to write 'each of those 30 countries' but I digress.
Trump has repeatedly boasted that he will target the EU and Canada in his planned “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs rollout on Wednesday, April 2.
Canada faces a far more serious threat than the EU, as Trump remains fixated on annexing Canada into becoming the 51st state. Included in Emperor Trump's list of intended conquests and acquisitions is the territory of Greenland and the Panama Canal. The rationale for the US occupying Greenland is that it is now a vital strategic location necessary to thwart Russian and Chinese aggression.
The claim by Trump is that Denmark has failed to properly secure the vast territory and therefore they are not a reliable NATO ally. Sound familiar?
The fact is that the US have had a military presence on this vitally strategic frozen island since June 1941. This is under an agreement with the Danish authorities.
During the Cold War this was a major airport at USAF Base Thule and recently it was incorporated into the new US Space Force and renamed Base Pituffik.
There would be no need for the US to 'invade' Greenland as they already have the only military presence on the territory.
Trump has also claimed that he does not need military force to annex Canada ad that he will simply accomplish this through economic pressure. No Canadian leader has yet to deliver an "over my dead body" response to Trump's threats, because every one familiar with our defence capability knows that would be the result.
Serving senior military officers are not allowed to make political statements and as such our generals and admirals in uniform have maintained their discipline. However, our large cadre of retired senior brass have been noticeably silent on the current spat with our erstwhile most trusted ally.
One exception to this was retired general Rick Hillier. The former Chief of the Defence Staff took to X (formerly twitter) on Feb. 15, to complain about Canada, admonish Canadians for booing the US anthem at sporting events and to put his support behind Trump-booster Kevin O’Leary’s proposal for a joint US-Canada dollar. This was hardly the response Canadians expected from our hawkish war-time general in recent memory.
Of course Canada's lack of defence spending has been at the forefront of Trump's ire since his first term. It is a fact that Canada currently only spends 1.37 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defence, well short of the NATO alliance's target goal of 2 per cent GDP. However, that is still a whopping $41 billion which puts us at the sixth highest defence expenditure within the 32 nation NATO alliance.
Also the vast majority of the expensive weaponry that Canada purchases comes from US defence companies. Trump badgering Canada into spending more on US defence technology under threat of economic punishment does not sit well with most patriotic Canadians.
One of them spoke out last week in a post on Linkedin which was later reported in the Ottawa Citizen. Former Royal Canadian Air Force Commander (2012-2015), retired Lt-Gen Yvan Blondin stated that Canada should halt the purchase of the F-35 fighter planes from the US. Ironically, it was Blondin himself who first recommended that Canada purchase the F-35.
He now says the deal should not go through because the US has become untrustworthy with Trump re-elected as president. “Reliance on a US defence umbrella, a critical factor since the end of WW2 for so many countries, is no longer guaranteed,” Blondin wrote on Linkedin “No affected country can afford to close its eyes and hope that 2026 or 2028 elections in the US will bring everything back to ‘normal’… and not happen again. The toothpaste cannot go back in the tube.”
A former fighter pilot, as Commander of the RCAF Blondin recommended the F-35 to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's conservative government in 2012. The intent to purchase was announced but later cancelled due to ballooning costs and mechanical teething troubles.
A decade later the Trudeau Liberals announced a project to spend $19 billion to buy 88 F-35's. To date $7 Billion has been contracted to build the first 16 of those aircraft. According to Blondin, given the current state of animosity Canada should not put all of our Air Force's eggs in one F-35 basket.
Blondin said there was still time before a decision had to be made to purchase the remaining 72 F-35s. The solution, he added, may be a mix of some F-35s and other aircraft from European nations, while at the same time spending money for future aircraft being developed by Europe.
Which brings us full circle to Trump's threat to double down on tariffs if Canada and the EU try to find bilateral solutions to circumvent his trade war.
Hold on folks. And get your elbows up. Lt-Gen Blondin just did.
