I simply posed the question. I honestly did not know how much support there is for Ukraine in Canada. The fact that 76% not only support Ukraine but also see China and Iran as a threat is very disappointing and it does not reflect well on the average Canadian. Where are they getting their news? I suspect mostly from American mainstream sources.
I am ultimately an advocate for a post-national, globalist world. I don't tend to view the world in 'black and white' but in shades and hues of grey.
This would seem to make me the ideal candidate in UT terms to consider your arguments.
But you have not presented them well.
China:
- Have you missed how its treating the Uigurs?
- Did you noted the lasted tariff on Canadian Canola?
- Did you consider China's longstanding reputation for IP theft and industrial espionage?
- Or their longstanding violations of International trade norms, including repeated dumping?
China is not 'evil'. But to portray it as a country that we should have no concerns over is at least one step too far in the other direction
Iran:
- A theocratic state which has been an unabashed supporter of terrorism, which has been a chief patron of Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah.
- A country which holds a large number of political prisoners, many in notoriously bad conditions and has practiced torture in the past. This is not merely propaganda, a number of Iranians (and foreigners)
have gone into Iranian prisons and never returned.
- A nation-state which gave us the Iran-Iraq War, has antagonized the Saudis, supported a ruthless dictator in Syria, destabilized Lebanon.
For all that, Iran isn' evil, it has modern cities, advanced science, is often more liberal in practice that high profile incidents suggest, and its people were not known for inherent belligerence before the current regime.
But is Iran someone who Canada should see a potential partner and ally in the world, even if the U.S. didn't see them as an enemy? Surely not.
There is only one country that I am aware of whose leader has pledged to destroy our economy and to annex our country. You all know which country I speak of.
Regardless of the U.S. President, and whether trade or other relations are mostly amicable, the U.S., militarily, in unquestionably, the largest potential threat to Canada.
But its also a threat that Canada cannot equal, we cannot size up our military to the point where we could seriously repel a U.S. invasion, if such a thing ever came to be.
As such, it behooves our nation to get along w/them, if only for the sake of peace.
Beyond that, however, they are a rich country, and the largest natural market for our goods and services on a shared continent, and a logical supplier to our market as well.
That offers potential benefits that far exceed those Iran, Russia or China could put on offer. That may change, eventually, but not anytime soon.
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Despite all the belligerent talk from the current holder of the White House, the effective tariff rate on Canadian goods and services is less than 3% which is likely the lowest of any other major country in the world right now.
So while the spectacle/theatre is indeed insulting.........the substance is much less so, and much more important.
nationalpost.com
