Ontario's status quo has implications for president Trump

A snap election in Canada's most populous province of Ontario results in the status quo.

At the end of a four-week election snap election campaign, votes have been cast and counted resulting in a legislature that is a near carbon copy of the one dissolved at the end of January.

On Jan. 28, Premier Doug Ford triggered an election campaign more than a year ahead of schedule saying he needed a larger mandate from the electorate to inject tens of billions into the economy if U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs.

By the end of the election night on Thursday, however, it was almost like the campaign hadn’t happened. The Progressive Conservatives were elected and leading in 80 seats compared to the 79 they had at dissolution, while the NDP was official opposition with 27 seats compared to 28 they held a month earlier.

The Liberals saw the biggest gains of the night moving from nine seats to 14 — mainly absorbing seats previously held by independents. The Greens kept the two ridings they had at the end of January and independent Bobbi Ann Brady was also re-elected.

The only major upset of the night was Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie who failed to win a seat in Mississauga, the city where she was mayor for almost a decade. No cabinet ministers were unseated and none of the other party leaders lost.

There is one thing that has changed, Ontario's premier has turned on Trump. Trump has made enemies of a few former friends in and Doug Ford is one of them. American's might say well, that's a fair-weather friend, but it is in response to tariffs being imposed by Trump. I get Trump not being able to stomach Justin Trudeau but in going after Canada instead of just Justin Trudeau, he's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Canada despises Trudeau as well. Canada is trending heavily conservative and an election is imminent. There will soon be a prime minister who, if things do not escalate, will be a willing and great partner for president Trump who will work hand in hand to benefit both countries. 

Not all geopolitical relationships are comprised of zero sum game. One country can only benefit at the expense of another. Most things in life, and certainly in capitalism (not crony capitalism) are in fact not zero sum game situations.  The relationship between the U.S. and Canada is most definitely NOT a zero sum game. It is more typified by the idea of "a rising tide lifts all boats." Trade can be mutually beneficial, and it should be so. 

As a Canadian who has vociferously supported Trump since 2016, even I am irked. That's not to say that I have stopped supporting him. I remain optimistic about what he will do for America, and as a spillover effect it will help Canada. But I have gone from robustly optimistic to merely cautiously optimistic. I hope Trump's America first does not result in making a bunch of enemies for the United States. America first does not need to result in America only.

Back to optimism; I don't believe it will. Trade can be mutually beneficial, and it should be so. Trump certainly knows this. I believe Trump is playing poker with Canada, with NATO, with Russia and the Ukraine, and even with Gaza. Or more accurately, he's staking out a position from which to start to bargaining. That's brilliant if that's the case, and I do think that IS the case. I'm irked but that is merely due to the short term implications, longer term I'm sure it will pass. Trump I'm sure is thinking long term. I'm also sure that there will be some unintended consequences. Let's hope those are kept to a minimum.

Keystone XL pipeline vs. Trump's tariffs

The Keystone XL Pipeline was a big priority for president Trump in his first term. In 2025, he's imposing tariffs that would impact the pipeline. These two positions are at odds with each other.

Epstein drop vs. FBI

Tim Pool summary of the Epstein files and what's going on at the FBI.

Lies, Lies, Lies...yeah

Chrystia Freeland may be the perfect replacement for tinpot dictator Justin Trudeau, she's as crazy and deceitful as he is. She lies. She's incompetent. She might be Canada's next prime minister, but it won't be for very long.

Birthright Citizenship contitutionality

Let's see how this plays out (when it eventually reaches the Supreme Court):

Asmongold's reaction to Joy Reid's tears

Asmongold is a popular YouTuber who may have just absorbed the red pill by slow osmosis due to the far left's insanity.  Here he gives an honest reaction to Joy Reid's firing and subsequent tears.

German election summed up

Paul Joseph Watson sizes up the result.

Don Lemon proves he's worse than I thought (language warning)

Note to self: Stand aside and let this man sink himself.

Quote of the week

This week there are two great quotes tied for the Quote of the Week (which does not pop up here on a weekly basis to be fair).  Bothe quotes come from Victor Davis Hanson, and from the same article. They are both in reference to Trump's approach to the Ukraine-Russia war.

The first quote is to assuage the left's gleeful panic over Trump's not appearing to recognize that Russia did indeed start the war. Hanson points the truth out very early in the article:

Putin did start the war. Trump’s trolling aside, he knows that because he correctly pointed out that Putin invaded his neighbors in three of the last four administrations—but not his own, given Trump’s deterrence.

The second quote concludes the article with Hanson's presumption about Trump's recent tactics on the matter, which I share - it's about negotiating without giving up your position, and indeed, even more than that:

For all the media screaming and left-wing accusations, Trump’s recent antics have at least accomplished the following: the NATO nations, Ukraine, and Russia are all confused about what Trump is saying, and so now all the more want him to stop the war.

Truth. 

Ilhan Omar thinks you're stupid

 She outright says it:

Ilhan Omar mocks "stupid" Americans pic.twitter.com/jGITli2swg

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 23, 2025

If you need a refresher on who she is, here is a smattering of examples.

This and this. 

This.

And here, the AP, trying to justify her ridiculousness. And even with the fact checking, she still comes across as a looney toon.

Finally for now, this.

This woman should not be in congress, and arguably, America.

DOGE transparency

I finally had a bit of time to head over to DOGE tracker. This is the opposite of what previous administrations have done and it's worth keeping an eye on. I've included the link, go check it out.

And finally, exit Joy Reid

A few years too late, but I'll take it. That said, don't expect MSNBC to improve, not unless Elon Musk actually does decide to buy it on the cheap.

Germany shifting right

The question is, how far?  Generally a good news election though.

Pope Francis health update

Things are not looking good for the Pope.

Sunday verse

 

Horrible state of DOJ

Recently confirmed AG, Pam Bondi was shocked by the deep bad state of the DOJ:

Woke is boring

It's hard to disagree with most of this assessment, your woke story is applicable pretty much just to you. Sorry, not sorry.

Leo Terrell, Trump DOJ appointee goes off on Democrats

This delivery may be incendiary, but he's not wrong:

Democrat slush funds coming to light

This time via the EPA:

Meanwhile in Canada (again)

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has surged back into a commanding lead after a brief period where left leaning voters were flirting with going back to support an eventual Justin Trudeau replacement (think of it as a a 'joyous' post-Let's-Go-Brandon honeymoon with Kamala Harris, but in this case it's an anybody-but-Trudeau honeymoon).  In any case, that period appears to be over:

Twitter-gate, what you missed

Thanks to the mainstream media, many people are not up to speed on what the Twitter files have revealed.

Here you go:

Kash Patel confirmed!

Kash Patel has been confirmed as the FBI director. Despite stupid antics from Susan Collins. By my count that's another win for president Trump and a big loss for Susan Collins.

DOGE vs Stacey Abrams

This is why DOGE is not just necessary, but vital. How much more of this crap is going on?

It's not all bad news from the left

An Obama-appointed judge rejected Democrats’ efforts to block DOGE data access:

Konstantin Kisin crushes it yet again

Konstantin Kisin made yet another great speech, at ARC 2025 this time:

Germany is lost

Remember when dopey Margaret Brennan recently claimed the Holocaust was caused by free speech? She need not worry because Germany does not have free speech: 

Waste exposed! (Part 1 of who knows how many)

DOGE is working to expose fraud.  Why are Democrats so opposed to exposing and eliminating waste? The only reason I can envision is that they are benefitting from the misdirected funds.

Academia exposed

This is well put by Sabine Hossenfelder, and it may explain the bubble of climate change and other bubbles as well. Kudos to her:

This is not the first time it's been pointed out.

Margaret Brennan: Holocaust due to free speech

Margaret Brennan can officially be labelled an idiot. Censorship leads to fascism and now so does free speech. And it also led to the Holocaust. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot,  Sorry for the ad hominem attacks but this is hard to frame any other way.  

The most sensible clip on this is an Asmongold reaction video:

Liberals can't define words

This is so typical.  They can't define a woman so this was a long shot (no pun intended) from the get go:

Sunday verse

Libertarian communist???

Charlie Kirk takes down some stupidity in just a few sentences:

Former Canadian Prime Minister destroys leftism

Stephen Harper was Canada's conservative Prime Minister before Justin Trudeau came along and wrecked the country with his meandering, far-left, woke, void of intelligence government. Here, Harper explains the left in a great take down.

Eric Adams and the politics of Democratic destruction

I'm no fan of Eric Adams, but the prosecution of the New York City mayor seemed awfully political. Now it seems even more plausible:

RFK Jr sworn in, and...

Make America Healthy Again is a go:

Proof: It's a wonderful thing

DOGE works.

Panic in D.C.

Purple Pennsylvania

Tulsi Gabbard in

Another win for team Trump:

Why does this keep happening?

The freeze up strikes again:

A quick catch up

Several topics covered here:

Trump cheered, Taylor Swift booed at Superbowl

This says a lot:

Democrats getting it wrong again

As they search for an answer to Trump, Democrats wrongly double down on the policies and practices that got them defeated in the first place.

Sunday verse

 

Worth the listen: The Art of the Deal

The full audiobook:

Two different realities

On USAID, one has to wonder where the Democrats' heads are at:

USAID revealed

The USAID shutdown is for cause:

Canada needs an election

Alberta premier Danielle Smith is not the only person thinking this way:

Trudeau caves

Just yesterday, I thought Justin Trudeau was to stupid, too narcissistic and too stubborn to blink, and had some not so kind assessments for president Trump because of Trudeau's likely entrenchment.  I owe president Trump a temporary reprieve on that assessment, and an apology. Apparently Justin Trudeau was not quite that idiotic. Color me shocked.

Trudeau caved.

Trump's first miscalculation?

Full disclosure, I'm looking at this as a Canadian citizen.

I have been a rock solid supporter of president Trump since 2016. I cannot think of a single issue where I did not support him 100%. Sure, like others I would sometimes cringe a little at some of his choices of words, but not at his intent. That said, tariffs on Canada, are not so much a favorite of mine. Now before you get your shorts in a knot with "Oh now that it's affecting you...", let me explain.

I will grant you the following points; (i) Canada has an absolute idiot of a leader who has hung around longer than the odor of forgotten used gym clothes in a locker room. (ii) Canada has benefitted from a trade surplus with the United States for a long time (iii) Canada does not contribute to NATO the way it should (see point (i) for the reason why) (iv) Canada has not done enough to secure it's border with the United States.

ALL TRUE.

Furthermore, president Trump did offer Justin Trudeau an easy out of the tariff problem; secure the border.  It's not a crazy ask, and it's something Canada should want just as much as the U.S. 

But alas, "unintended consequences" rears it's ugly head as it always does.  President Trump no doubt had hoped this pressure would hasten the demise of Justin Trudeau. That's a truly laudable goal. Justin Trudeau is despised in Canada. But what has happened instead of Trudeau caving, he's donned his faux tough guy cape, and so has most every politician in Canada (with a few key exceptions), and the mood has gone straight to that of dig in and fight back. Worse, it appears the Liberal party of Canada might actually benefit from the tariff fight. Instead of waiting a few months for a leader that is much more aligned with Trump, this may actually prevent Pierre Poilievre from winning the election. Worse still, Poilievre knows it and has had to start talking tougher on Trump in order to not cede ground on what was a 99% certain blowout win against the Liberal party in the coming months. In otherwise, a soon to be allied leader, has had to drift in the opposite direction. 

Secondly, for a country full of people who despise Trudeau, and generally have strong positive feelings about the United States, both of those notions are already in jeopardy. While as an American you might not care what Canadians think of you, it's not without consequence. Keep in mind, Canada is still an American ally; we're not Iran. Heck we're not even Mexico in terms of illegal immigration or drug flow or danger to the U.S. That is not say there's no culpability on Canada's part, but in terms of proportionality my point remains; Canada is no Mexico. 

My point on Canada being an ally is threefold. If Trump is seen to be bullying allies like Canada, what does that mean for the U.K., Australia, and other erstwhile allies? Maybe you still don't care, but don't be surprised if taken to it's logical conclusion, America does indeed end up being isolated. No matter how powerful a nation might be, that's a precarious position.

Thirdly there's trade. Canada thanks to Let's Go Brandon's killing of the Keystone pipeline, has a  new pipeline to the Pacific being built. It's not just about the U.S. not needing Canadian oil and gas, it's about to whom else can Canada sell it's resources. Japan, Korea. Maybe, but the most interested buyer is China. Canada would highly prefer to sell to the United States. But Trump is effectively pushing an ally into the arms of a mutual geopolitical enemy, and potentially helping that enemy.

Fourthly, Trump's approach does not distinguish between the Canadian people and Canadian 'leadership'. It's the former who will be adversely affected by this. Justin Trudeau doesn't give a damn and you can tell by his 'tough guy' response. Common sense would dictate fix the border. But there's no common sense with Trudeau, only ego. Conflating Trudeau with the average Canadian (who is already viciously hammered by bad economic leadership and struggling day-to-day to get by) is not a good look.

And all of that is just surface level. From a Canadian perspective there's a lot more to this. But bear in mind I have been blogging pro-America for a over 15 years and pro-Trump posts since he ran for president in 2016. I'm second guessing his approach to Canada specifically, imagine how other, less pro-American, Canadians are thinking. 

Sunday verse

 

Frightening air crash #2

It looked like a missile coming into Philadelphia. The second air disaster in president Trump's term, and I'm guessing the media want to spin it as Trump's fault but can't. So instead they are questioning his response to the first accident as premature. Just because DEI was not immediately an attributable cause of the crash over the Potomac, doesn't mean that DEI, including people with mental health issues working as air traffic controllers, is not a problem at the FAA. It lowers the overall capability where top level capability is essential.