The Canadian Dissident

If there's one thing that defines Canadian culture, it's that we always define and evaluate ourselves in contrast to the United States. This has been a constant theme throughout Canadian history. Rejection of the United States was even one of the biggest reasons for the creation of Canada in 1867. The United States is not a great benchmark, given the country's long history of imperialism, militarism, racism, extreme inequality, and violence that continues to this day. Compared to the rest of the world, the U.S.  is an outlier in many ways. For example, the U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world and spends far more on the military than any other country (more than China, India, and Russia combined).  An unfortunate result of our fixation on the United States is we have become adept at ignoring our own country's problems. “At least we're not as bad as the States,” we tell ourselves.  We rightfully condemn Trump’s violent crackdown on immigration....

2025 was a major turning point in American and Canadian politics. Trump's second presidency has already made a huge impact on the world, as he launched trade wars against many countries including Canada. In March, Mark Carney took over as Canada's Prime Minister and steered the Liberal Party to the right . He adopted much of the Conservative Party's platform and won another minority government in April. The Liberal government's new restrictions on immigration led to a record decline of Canada's population. This sudden population drop is bad news for Canada's economy, which is struggling to maintain any growth. Add in the uncertainty caused by Trump's on-again, off-again trade war, and there is a strong possibility of a recession in the new year. Here is a look back at some of the year's best journalism and analysis. Israel-Palestine war How Israel’s West Bank strategy aims to bury Palestinian statehood  - Reuters As Israeli settlements continue to expan...

During this year's federal election campaign, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet sparked outrage by suggesting that Canada is “an artificial country with very little meaning.”  Despite the media and political backlash, Blanchet is right. Every country in the world is an artificial, man-made construct. However, Canada is especially artificial.  Canadians are not united by geography, climate, politics, values, religion, or language. This has always been true, since 1867 when Québec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into one country. The original four provinces had different histories, different ethnicities, and different political aspirations. Canada has always existed as a pragmatic compromise.  The only thing that Canadians from coast to coast to coast have in common is that we are all living on land taken by force from Indigenous nations. The Indigenous nations of the land are diverse and not confined to the arbitrary borders of Canada. Desp...

Front page of the New York Times on March 20, 2003 In March 2003, the United States invaded Iraq based on a web of lies spun by President George W. Bush. Americans expected to find weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons, as well as a program to develop nuclear weapons. After years of searching, inspectors determined that Iraq in fact did not have any weapons of mass destruction and no concrete plans to develop them. The Costs of War Project at Brown University recently estimated 550,000 to 580,000 people have been killed  by the war in Iraq and Syria since 2003, and "several times as many may have died due to indirect causes such as preventable diseases." There are also approximately 15 million Iraqis and Syrians currently displaced by the war. The US and Canada still have troops stationed in Iraq.  Yesterday the Canadian government extended its military mission in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon for another 2 years. Canadian troops wi...

Since Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the possibility of war spreading to other Eastern European countries has become a very real danger. Multiple NATO countries are at risk of Russian invasion, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. If any NATO country is attacked, Canada is obligated by Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty to come to their aid. This may include " the use of armed force " if deemed necessary. However, sending troops is not required by the treaty. The reality is Canada has nothing to gain from joining a war in Europe, and everything to lose. Canada is currently burdened by record-high debt, and any military action would be very costly. For example,  the  Afghanistan War  cost Canadians an estimated $18 billion. The human cost was also high. 165 Canadians were killed and over 2000 Canadian soldiers were injured. Thousands more were diagnosed with PTSD after deployment. A war against Russia, which has one of the world's larg...

On September 11th, 2001 the Twin Towers fell and the world changed. In the United States, Canada, and much of the Western world a culture of fear set in and came to dominate the next 2 decades.  This was primarily a fear of Islamic terrorism, but 9/11 also brought about a general sense of uncertainty and fear that continues to this day. For the next 20 years  our politics, media, culture, and Zeitgeist as a whole would be characterized by a strong sense of fear, often bordering on paranoia. 9/11 triggered a wave of xenophobia in both the US and Canada. Islam, immigrants, and anything seen as foreign were treated with suspicion and fear. Unfortunately this attitude never really went away. Even now Islamophobia is still a major problem . Over the last 20 years apocalyptic media has become increasingly popular, with dozens of movies depicting apocalypses and post-apocalyptic worlds. In 2005 Steven Spielberg included imagery reminiscent of 9/11 in his film adaptation of  War...

Canada currently has thousands of troops deployed overseas. That simple fact is not secret information, but it's not well known either. The press rarely talks about it and politicians almost never mention it. The Canadian public funds these overseas missions, but the average Canadian knows very little about our military's overseas escapades. How many countries does the Canadian military currently operate in? How many can you name? More importantly, are any of these operations actually necessary for Canada's national security? In Europe, Canada has significant numbers of troops in Latvia and Ukraine. Operation Reassurance , based out of Latvia, has "up to 915" members deployed at any given point in time from the navy, army, and air force. The operation's purpose is vaguely defined as " NATO assurance and deterrence measures" intended to "show the strength of Allied solidarity." It is Canada's largest overseas mission, but it is very diff...