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by Jean Chretien

Today is my 91st birthday.

It’s an opportunity to celebrate with family and friends. To look back on the life I’ve had the privilege to lead. And to reflect on how much this country we all love so much has grown and changed over the course of the nine decades I’ve been on this Earth.

This year, I’ve also decided to give myself a birthday present. I’m going to do something in this article that I don’t do very often anymore, and sound off on a big issue affecting the state of the nation and profoundly bothering me and so many other Canadians: The totally unacceptable insults and unprecedented threats to our very sovereignty from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

I have two very clear and simple messages.

To Donald Trump, from one old guy to another: Give your head a shake! What could make you think that Canadians would ever give up the best country in the world – and make no mistake, that is what we are – to join the United States?

I can tell you Canadians prize our independence. We love our country. We have built something here that is the envy of the world – when it comes to compassion, understanding, tolerance and finding a way for people of different backgrounds and faiths to live together in harmony.

We’ve also built a strong social safety net – especially with public health care – that we are very proud of. It’s not perfect, but it’s based on the principle that the most vulnerable among us should be protected.

This may not be the “American Way” or “the Trump Way.” But it is the reality I have witnessed and lived my whole long life.

If you think that threatening and insulting us is going to win us over, you really don’t know a thing about us. You don’t know that when it came to fighting in two world wars for freedom, we signed up – both times – years before your country did. We fought and we sacrificed well beyond our numbers.

We also had the guts to say no to your country when it tried to drag us into a completely unjustified and destabilizing war in Iraq.

We built a nation across the most rugged, challenging geography imaginable. And we did it against the odds.

We may look easy-going. Mild-mannered. But make no mistake, we have spine and toughness.

And that leads me to my second message, to all our leaders, federal and provincial, as well as those who are aspiring to lead our country: Start showing that spine and toughness. That’s what Canadians want to see – what they need to see. It’s called leadership. You need to lead. Canadians are ready to follow.

I know the spirit is there. Ever since Mr. Trump’s attacks, every political party is speaking out in favour of Canada. In fact, it is to my great satisfaction that even the Bloc Québécois is defending Canada.

But you don’t win a hockey game by only playing defence. We all know that even when we satisfy one demand, Mr. Trump will come back with another, bigger demand. That’s not diplomacy; it’s blackmail.

We need another approach – one that will break this cycle.

Mr. Trump has accomplished one thing: He has unified Canadians more than we have been ever before! All leaders across our country have united in resolve to defend Canadian interests.

When I came into office as prime minister, Canada faced a national unity crisis. The threat of Quebec separation was very real. We took action to deal with this existential threat in a manner that made Canadians, including Quebeckers, stronger, more united and even prouder of Canadian values.

Now there is another existential threat. And we once again need to reduce our vulnerability. That is the challenge for this generation of political leaders.

And you won’t accomplish it by using the same old approaches. Just like we did 30 years ago, we need a Plan B for 2025.

Yes, telling the Americans we are their best friends and closest trading partner is good. So is lobbying hard in Washington and the state capitals, pointing out that tariffs will hurt the American economy too. So are retaliatory tariffs – when you are attacked, you have to defend yourself.

But we also have to play offence. Let’s tell Mr. Trump that we too have border issues with the United States. Canada has tough gun control legislation, but illegal guns are pouring in from the U.S. We need to tell him that we expect the United States to act to reduce the number of guns crossing into Canada.

We also want to protect the Arctic. But the United States refuses to recognize the Northwest Passage, insisting that it is an international waterway, even though it flows through the Canadian Arctic as Canadian waters. We need the United States to recognize the Northwest Passage as being Canadian waters.

We also need to reduce Canada’s vulnerability in the first place. We need to be stronger. There are more trade barriers between provinces than between Canada and the United States. Let’s launch a national project to get rid of those barriers! And let’s strengthen the ties that bind this vast nation together through projects such as real national energy grid.

We also have to understand that Mr. Trump isn’t just threatening us; he’s also targeting a growing list of other countries, as well as the European Union itself, and he is just getting started. Canada should quickly convene a meeting of the leaders of Denmark, Panama, Mexico, as well as with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to formulate a plan for fighting back these threats.

Every time that Mr. Trump opens his mouth, he creates new allies for all of us. So let’s get organized! To fight back against a big, powerful bully, you need strength in numbers.

The whole point is not to wait in dread for Donald Trump’s next blow. It’s to build a country and an international community that can withstand those blows.

Canadians know me. They know I am an optimist. That I am practical. And that I always speak my mind. I made my share of mistakes over a long career, but I never for a moment doubted the decency of my fellow Canadians – or of my political opponents.

The current and future generations of political leaders should remember they are not each other’s enemies – they are opponents. Nobody ever loved the cut-and-thrust of politics more than me, but I always understood that each of us was trying to make a positive contribution to make our community or country a better place.

That spirit is more important now than ever, as we address this new challenge. Our leaders should keep that in mind.

I am 91 today and blessed with good health. I am ready at the ramparts to help defend the independence of our country as I have done all my life.

Vive le Canada!

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Time to choose.

Do you support Canada, or do you support the hostile power that intends to use “economic force” against us?

Do you support this country, or the dyspeptic Yankee president-elect, who refers to us as the 51st state, and who publishes maps showing that we no longer exist?

Because, make no mistake: that is the choice, now – Trump or Canada. And what Trump is actively promoting is not entirely unlike the pro-Hamas forces’ “from the river to the sea,” is it? It means that Donald Trump wants to see an imagined adversary wiped off the map.

Us.

The Canadian fans of Donald Trump – less than 20 per cent of us, and a number that is shrinking with every passing day – have a standard response to any of this. They use it all the time.

This is what they start with: “Trump is joking! It’s not serious.”

When that inevitably fails, they say: “You’ve got Trump Derangement Syndrome, snowflake.”

And then, when it becomes apparent to everybody that Trump is indeed serious about imposing his manifest destiny madness on Canada (and Mexico, Panama, Denmark, and Greenland), they say: “I agree with him. Our country doesn’t exist anymore. It’s all Trudeau’s fault.”

Rinse and repeat.

No fan of Justin Trudeau, is this writer. There are several hundred opinion columns over more than a decade to prove it.So forgive us for pointing out that Justin Trudeau wasn’t the one talking about using “economic force.” It was Donald Trump. With his own mouth.

And, while we are on the subject of the soon-to-be-departed Liberal leader, here’s another headshaker: The people in Canada who love Trump and wanted Trudeau gone? They are now blaming Trudeau for leaving when Trump is threatening to use “force” against us.

Pick a lane, Trumpkins.

Consider this, too: Trump isn’t going after Canada simply because he objects to the woke-ist government of Justin Trudeau. On Tuesday, in his rambling and saturnalian press conference in Florida, Trump went after Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as well. Viciously.

Trump said he “didn’t care” about the eminently reasonable pro-Canada stance of Canada’s Tory leader. “I don’t care what he says,” said Trump about Poilievre. That’s a direct quote.

So there you go. Trump isn’t just attacking Canada because of Trudeau, folks – he’s attacking the man who is almost certainly going to be our next Prime Minister, as well. (So much for the vaunted influence of Conservative MP Jamil Jivani on his college buddy JD Vance, by the by.)

Who speaks for Canada now? Ontario Premier Doug Ford, for one. Finance minister Dominic LeBlanc, for another – who put aside his personal political ambitions to confront the Trump threat. This newspaper, too, whose Wednesday front page expressed it perfectly: PUT CANADA FIRST!

That is indeed the choice. Put Canada first, or put Trump first. You cannot do both.

Many Canadians have been in denial, in recent weeks. Since the moment Trump posted his intention to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods coming into the United States – which will indisputably send our economy into an economic tailspin, and likely a recession – many Canadians have refused to believe it.

Don’t the Americans remember that we fought on their side against the Nazis, against the Taliban, against many other foes over many years? Don’t they know that we have deeply-integrated economies, and cultures, and values? Don’t they recall that we have always been their best and closest ally?

None of that matters anymore. Not with the new guy. Donald Trump is saying, over and over, what he intends to do. It is in our self-interest to start believing him.

And it is time for Canadians to choose: stand with him, or stand with us.

And if you’re with him, get the Hell out. 

We don’t want or need you.

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And they’re off!

The Liberal Party’s leadership contenders, that is. Although some have been quietly organizing for many months. Does that give them an advantage?

Not necessarily. Here’s the LPC race card, so far:

CHRYSTIA FREELAND: She was Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister until Justin Trudeau clumsily attempted to fire her in December, and replace her with the unelected Mark Carney. Livid, Freeland hit back, calling Trudeau’s signature policies “expensive political stunts” – and warning him he faced electoral defeat. She’s been working the phones with Grits ever since. She’s a contender, but can Freeland win? She has two problems. One, she’s still going to be tarred with every Trudeau scandal and misstep. Two, going back to Brutus, history rarely ever rewards the ones who stab their leader in the back (or the front).

DOMINIC LEBLANC: LeBlanc has been the Trudeau government’s Mr. Fix It and is well-liked by most, including Conservative Premiers. He’s worn many hats: LeBlanc has been an advisor to Jean Chretien, held multiple senior cabinet portfolios, and studied at Harvard. Dom, as he’s called, is the son of former Governor General Romeo LeBlanc and was even Justin Trudeau’s babysitter. Some, however, would say that LeBlanc never stopped being Trudeau’s babysitter – and is therefore too close to Trudeau’s many scandals and controversies. Has had a leadership team in place for months.

ANITA ANAND: Telegenic, affable, capable. Lots of ambition – but no name recognition. Currently slated to lose her Toronto-area seat in a big way. Therefore not a serious contender. If you can’t win your own seat, how can you win the country?

FRANCOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE: Frankie Bubbles, as Brian Lilley famously dubbed him, is a centrist Liberal. He is well-respected within the party and represents Jean Chretien’s former Quebec riding. That’s the biggest problem he faces, however: he’s another Quebecer. The Liberal Party has a long tradition of alternating between Quebec and non-Quebec leaders. Many will accordingly say that it’s not Champagne’s turn.

MELANIE JOLY: Joly, like Champagne, is a Francophone Quebecker. That’s a problem. Also a problem: she is arguably the worst cabinet minister in Canadian history, and has energetically destroyed the Liberal Party’s reputation with Jewish voters, likely for good. In the Trudeau government, there is no minister closer to the pro-Hamas position than Joly. If she wins, it’s lights out for a once-great political party.

MARK CARNEY: He’s got the highest IQ, and he’s run big organizations. Born in Canada’s North, fluently bilingual, Carney is clearly favored by Trudeau and his circle. But he’s essentially Michael Ignatieff with a pocket calculator: if you were to look up the word “elite” in the dictionary, you’d see Carney’s high school graduation picture. One upside: if you are getting ready to enter tough negotiations with Donald Trump about debilitating trade tariffs, having the former Governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England representing you is not a bad thing.

CHRISTY CLARK: She may not be the one to beat, yet, but she’s the one the Liberals should pick. She’s brilliant and a scrappy political fighter, and it’s dangerous to underestimate her. Unlike most of the others, too, Clark is an outsider and untouched by the many Trudeau regime scandals. Unlike most of the others, she is a blue Liberal, and actually believes in balanced budgets. Unlike several of the other others, she is a woman who has held the highest public office (Premier of BC) – and it’s well past time that the Liberal Party had a female leader. (They are the only party which hasn’t.) The one who makes Pierre Poilievre nervous.

Other names will enter the race, but mostly just to improve their name recognition. They won’t matter.

The ones above are the contenders. They are the ones to beat!

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