EDITORIAL – Memo to Carney: Donald Trump is the enemy, not all Americans
Mark Carney delivers his victory speech. (Image: Screenshot, CPAC)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
CANADA STRONG is the latest cliché to come up in response to Trump’s trade war. Mark Carney used the phrase in his speech after his massive victory in the federal Liberal leadership contest on Sunday (March 9, 2025).
He pulled in almost 86 per cent of the 152,000 votes, annihilating challengers Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis.
Tacking the word “strong” to places that have undergone stress and strife is commonplace in the U.S., where it began with “Boston Strong” after the 2013 marathon bombings. Many other American cities now use it as well.
In Canada, Humboldt adopted the word after the tragic highway crash that killed many members of its hockey team in 2018. But let’s leave it at that. It’s become corny from over-use and too much identified with the U.S.
Carney’s speech focused heavily on the tariff issue, and his self-professed credentials for dealing with it.
“There’s someone who’s trying to weaken our economy,” he said. “Donald Trump. Donald Trump has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we earn a living. He’s attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses. We can’t let him succeed and we won’t.”
But here’s where he strayed into potentially dangerous territory. Instead of sticking to putting the target on Trump, he generalized.
“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country. Think about that for a moment. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life. In America, healthcare is a big business. In Canada, it’s a right.
“America is a melting pot. Canada is a mosaic. America does not recognize differences. It does not recognize the First Nations. And there will never be rights to the French language. The joy of living, culture, and the French language are part of our identity. We must protect them; we must promote them. We will never, ever, trade them for any trade deal!”
He continued: “America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape, or form. We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So, Americans should make no mistake… In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”
The problem is that Carney has now declared the enemy as being Americans and America in general. Certainly, Americans are crazy, at least a lot of them. How else can their choice of Donald Trump as their president be explained?
But our crazy neighbours aren’t to blame for what’s going on right now. They didn’t elect Trump to declare war on Canada. Trump is the problem, not them.
By generalizing, by talking about “Americans” wanting to take us over, Carney risks turning Americans against us. Currently, most of them are on our side and we need them to help us get past Trump.
The best speech of the night was given by former PM Jean Chretien who, at 91, has lost not of his acuity or sense of humour. In shredding Trump’s assumptions about Canada, he offered the orange president some advice as “one old guy to another old guy.” The advice was, “Stop this nonsense. Canada will never join the United States.”
So let’s be careful not to tar all Americans with the Trump brush. They’ve made their bed and must now lie in it but they’re still our friends. Trump certainly isn’t, but they are.
We need to work together with them to make both America and Canada strong.
Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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“They didn’t elect Trump to declare war on Canada.” He promised our water in his campaign and made threats against other countries. The American people chose war.
⅓ of the country voted for him while another ⅓ stayed home choosing to not vote against him. The other ⅓ of them can be seen as our friends but as a whole…no. Until we see real protest in their streets like any other decent democracy would do given the current situation.. they are not our friends…including those who voted against him.
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Agree to disagree, America elected Trump, twice. Trump, his enablers and 50% of the population are indeed our enemies and by our I mean the free world. We didn’t take a big stand the first time and we’re the worse for it, economically and worst of all, socially, as his negative influence on our country is immeasurable in dollars. What was that “W” said, “fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again”, I miss those simpler times.
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First off, the idea that Canada is some bastion of perfection while the U.S. is the root of all ills is a simplification. No country’s immune to flaws. Canada’s got its own laundry list: French vs. English, Western separetism, housing crises, healthcare wait times, and a history of indigenous issues that still aren’t fully squared. Painting the U.S. as the enemy because of one guy, even if you think he’s a wrecking ball, ignores the complexity of why millions voted for him. People don’t elect leaders in a vacuum as there’s economic pain, cultural divides, and distrust of elites at play and proxy wars that we partnered with them. Writing off 50% of Americans as “enemies” dismisses the bigger picture and kills any shot at understanding it.
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