Response to Donald Trump’s Force Multipliers in Canada: Jordan Peterson, Danielle Smith, and Maple MAGA

This will become a key case study in cultural imperialism and psychological warfare.

Who are you to speak?

Inappropriate though it may be, I need to begin on a personal note because I think it could be instructive and it serves to aid the reader in filtering for bias. Anybody who has known me for some time, will attest to the fact that few in Canada have been as strident and sweeping in their criticisms of Canadian culture, society, and politics, as I have been. It was often visceral and deeply personal, and quite intemperate. Not only that, but I did not just talk the talk, I also walked the walk—and that will suffice for personal details as I will divulge no further here, or at least not yet. Yet, despite all of that, you will not find a single word that I have ever written or spoken that calls for Canada to be taken over by another country, and that calls for selling out Canada to a foreign power. I draw a thick line between critique and betrayal. And as much as I criticize Canada, I find US empire immeasurably more objectionable.

Far from betrayal, I am very confident in asserting that I am probably Canada’s one and only nationalist anthropologist—and that is a matter of public record, not opinion. I published papers, presented at conferences, taught undergraduate courses and graduate seminars, and wrote online about the need to rescue, defend, and further develop a Canadian anthropology—and I specifically did so with reference to US cultural imperialism. Several dozen former students are “out there” who will also attest to that. I know not a single other Canadian anthropologist who can say that, but if I am incorrect please do not be shy about telling me, I would appreciate making their acquaintance.

As a “nationalist anthropologist” I defended the need for a Canadian anthropology in front of liberal/left colleagues at the Canadian Anthropology Society’s meetings in Halifax in 2016—the final time I went to a CASCA conference. I was told, quite directly, that my ideas were “dangerous,” especially with the rise of movements such as Trump’s. I would bet that the same people who said that, and the others who nodded along, are now probably shrill in their opposition to Trump’s threats, and demanding what is in effect a defensive, nationalist response to his threatened attacks. They are probably demanding a harsh response to Trump’s insults against all of Canada. Welcome to the fight, Johnny-Come-Lately.

Those same anti-nationalist Canadian anthropologists are probably, right now, slamming Canadian turncoats on Twitter. By turncoats I mean the mostly western Canadian surrender squad known as “Maple MAGA” plus many other Conservatives. Other terms are used online, but I will try to be polite.

The phenomena we are dealing with, that allows us to correctly read Maple MAGA and Canadians advocating for surrender to Trump, are: cultural imperialism, and part of that is psychological warfare. All these actors serve as force multipliers for Trump. They are, in effect, fifth columnists.

And this takes me immediately to the question of respect.

Respect Yourselves First, Vicarious Nationalists

How can you be respected, and taken seriously, if you do not respect yourself? If you are so open and willing to kneel to a foreign power, and to even call for your own annexation, how would you expect your new master to view you, and to treat you? If you were that master, with what confidence, and what faith, would you deal with someone who has clearly shown that they are traitors who will sell out their own?

These are important questions as they partly explain why the US has historically treated most of its overseas force multipliers as disposable trash to be discarded without a second thought once they outlived their usefulness. To the Canadians cheering for Trump: just picture yourselves as one of those bodies falling off the C-17s as the US hastily withdrew from Afghanistan—those people are your actual, functional counterparts.

Vicarious nationalism: there is little that I respect less, it is so utterly bleak and pathetic. The vicarious nationalists are primarily those Canadian right-wingers who admire nationalism, sovereignty, and self-determination, but only when it is practiced and expressed by Trump and his MAGA supporters. They so admire MAGA nationalism, that they will uphold it at Canada’s expense, which also means at their own expense. These people are ready to pay a Trump tax, and will blame Canada for it, and they will still claim to be nationalists.

There is also a left-wing version: people who support nationalism and self-determination, but only when it comes to Ukraine, First Nations, or the Palestinians. Otherwise they despise Canadian nationalism. I am assuming that some of these people are now revising their politics.

Tools for Trump: Jordan Peterson

On the eve of what could be a devastating trade war, what Canadian ex-academic Jordan Peterson thought most appropriate was to publish a lengthy screed against Canada. American-owned PostMedia published it on the entire front page of The National Post, as if it were just that important, like the most important landmark essay in the history of Canadian literature. This is the same Jordan Peterson who accompanied Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to Mar-a-Lago, which produced no results and no benefits for Canada. Perhaps that was not the real purpose of their visit with Trump: they left the meeting with evangelical zeal shown in their preaching against Canadian interests, and in favour of the US.

“We have been terrible friends to the Americans,” Jordan laments—almost as if Canada had started the trade war, initiated the insults, and made the threats. He laughs at “socialists” and “globalists” going into a “tizzy”. “Perhaps we’re not the partners and collaborators we think we are,” Jordan slyly suggests, as he slowly makes the case for the subjugation of Canada. He’s just turning up the flame gradually, for now, under the pot of water holding what he sees as his readers: mere boiling frogs. The problem, you see, is that Canada was never genuine, it was never true and reliable as America’s “well-wisher and supporter”. Such is Canada’s “Manifest Destiny”: well-wisher and supporter of the US.

Peterson then treats us to a verbose, boring, and very unremarkable anecdote about how his poor American graduate students had to endure what amounts to little more than side-eyes from Canadians. Look at how touchy, delicate, and sensitive these conservative anti-woke types are. You can slander a black man, but don’t you ever, ever, dare to make a joking quip against an American. This is affirmative action for empire, and Peterson treasures it.

Repeatedly, Peterson condemns—in sweeping generalizations—Canadians’ tendencies to be “moralistic” and “passive-aggressive” (he’s a psychologist, after all) toward their American betters. Why? Because Peterson is a real man. A real man acts in an amoral, if not immoral manner, and does so with unbridled aggression. It turns out that the pompous squealer fancies himself to be a bit of a jungle warrior.

This is a person who thinks of the US as the “big brother captain of the high school wrestling team,” while Canadians are merely “junior hippy student radicals”—yes, his essay is just that dumb and vulgar.

Peterson wrote this screed while dying to call Justin Trudeau a “communist,” but he couldn’t quite bring himself to parrot the Maple MAGA crowd, and so he defaults to classing him as “anti-capitalist”. That should come as news to Canada’s 0.1%, the 53 billionaire families. But are tariffs not also “anti-capitalist”? We are talking after all about the state—Big Government—looting from the pockets of actual producers and consumers, not very “business-friendly” if you ask me. Peterson would be surprised to learn that Trudeau and Trump share one key quality in common: statism.

Peterson is utterly fake in expressing his grief that Canada is not led by nationalists. His treatment for insufficient Canadian pride, patriotism, and nationalism at the elite level is to subjugate Canada to US imperialism. This kind of doctor, no patient needs.

Peterson really labours at turning this coming trade war into a struggle against Wokeness—where all of Canada represents The Woke, while America is by default homogenized as All Trump, and thus anti-Woke. (By the way, where did Canadian Wokeness come from to begin with? Did it come out of Moncton? Saskatoon, perhaps?) The point is a serious one, because as a tool whose work it is to divide (and facilitate American rule), he wants this to look like a crusade against Wokeness. Thus, if you are against American supremacy and American privilege at the expense of Canadians...then you must be Woke. This is the kind of low-class buffoonery you get from his article, masked behind superficial and strained elitist prose.

In the rest of his piece, Peterson, as if on drugs, produces a long love letter to Trump. He creates an imagined conversation between poor, beleaguered Danielle Smith, and Santa Trump who will bestow all sorts of wonderful gifts on Alberta—yes, the article is just that undignified.

Peterson rushes through his final paragraph. It’s not a conclusion, just a last paragraph. There he repeats what many others have said, including those with whom he disagrees so relentlessly. It’s a paragraph meant as a balm. “How could you say I didn’t offer solutions? Didn’t you read to the end? Shame on you”. His essay is not about solutions—it’s a complaint that Canada is, at the very least, insufficiently Trump-compliant, and at most, not Trumpian enough.

Tools for Trump: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Maple MAGA

Alberta Premier? It seems funny to write that about Danielle Smith, whose newest role appears to be that of White House Press Secretary for Canada. Note the sequence of events below. First came the words of mafioso Howard Lutnick, at his confirmation hearing for Commerce Secretary. Here he goes backwards, to Trump’s original message, a major rewind that attempts to erase everything that Trump said after, which included his affirmation that he was not trying to negotiate anything:

And then came the Canadian echo:

Smith wants Canada to take Trump’s bait, again. A trade war, started by Trump, will be Canada’s fault—that is her basic message. However, listen to her closing words in the video above. None of it will stop a trade war, because it’s a trade war that Trump wants.

Smith had made these specific points repeatedly, and with particular intensity and repetition in these final two weeks. She has also been amplified by anonymous accounts in Twitter, and by key media outlets in Canada. When she came back from Mar-a-Lago, her simple point was that “the tariffs are coming,” and to block the sale of Canadian oil and gas to the US would cause a “national unity crisis” in Canada. It’s much more recently that her emphasis has turned—in unison with others—to emphasizing border security (migrants and fentanyl). And it is that sudden shift in messaging, conducted with a choir of echoing voices in the background, that strikes me as very familiar and thus very suspicious.

Again, Smith is not alone, just the most present in the media. Slowly but surely, most of Canada’s media outlets, from The Globe and Mail to Global News, have fallen in line with Smith, even coming to her defense. The message is the same: Canadian retaliation is wrong and should be avoided. We should take the coming tariffs, straight in the gut, and learn how to improve our behaviour until our kidnapper is pleased. “Will her plan work? Who knows,” is the best that an article in The Globe and Mail can offer, in a plea that we stop vilifying Smith.

Trump wants a trade war, not a “secure northern border”. In the meantime, countless allegedly Canadian Twitter accounts have surfaced, each repeating the exact same refrain—and it’s absolute propaganda, in the sense of being deception. The refrain is simply: secure our border, stop the flow of fentanyl and migrants, and there will be no tariffs—but no, the Liberals want a trade war, so they can centralize and increase their power, etc., etc. The “etc.” part can be replaced by any of the rehashed, corny and foolish “theories” of the Covid period: “to crash the economy and bring in CBDCs and digital ID!”

In the process, Maple MAGA types are trying to invent and rewrite history. It was the poor US, under attack from Canadian indifference and malfeasance, that was forced to respond. It’s all Canada’s fault for not doing more on the border. The Liberals are causing this trade war. America is innocent once again. At no point do they discuss these points: When did this begin? Who started it? Why did they start it?

Their invention of history perfectly mirrors Trump’s claims—what a coincidence. Canada is now a major source of fentanyl and illegal migrants, and, tariffs are what seal borders and stop illegal drug flows. I am certain cartels and workers in illegal drug labs across North America are shaking at the prospect of tariffs.

The “F*ck Trudeau” brigade is stuck in a rut. Sensing their impending demise into complete irrelevance now that Trudeau has announced his exit, they hope to twist this history—in front of everyone’s eyes—into another emergency that Trudeau single-handedly cooked up. They therefore need to believe in the long-established Myth of American Innocence, or else the single object of their hatred will vanish. They act as if they live in a simple world, where there is only one bad guy.

Trump Wants a Trade War

Here is a quick reminder for those who are not informed, or have forgotten, or are easily distracted:

November 25, 2024: President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to impose a 25% tariff on all products imported from Canada and Mexico, effective as soon as he took office on January 20, 2025. He claimed that this was as retaliation for the flow of illegal drugs and migrants entering the US.

November 30, 2024: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida, to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. It was during that meeting that Trump said Canada should become the 51^st state, and right after that he began to refer to Trudeau as “Governor” of Canada.

December 17, 2024: Canada announced its new border security measures. These included: 24/7 aerial Surveillance involving the employment of new helicopters, drones, and surveillance tools to monitor the border continuously; a Joint Strike Force; investment in new scanners and sniffer dog teams to detect and seize drugs, particularly fentanyl; crackdown on money laundering (which Canada already does); hiring additional law enforcement and providing them with advanced technology, including mobile surveillance towers; enhanced coordination between the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to inspect exports; and, a specific focus on detecting and disrupting the trade of fentanyl precursor chemicals. This came with a $1.3 billion price tag.

How did Trump respond?

Trump’s immediate reactions, and those from his staff, were initially positive—they even gloated about their success: “This is how it’s done”. His supporters cheered, “Promises made, promises kept!” They emphasized that Trump had not even taken office yet, and his actions were already bearing fruit. Tom Homan, “border czar,” met with Canadian officials and responded positively to the announced measures.

And then that all stopped.

Far from saying the tariffs would be avoided, Trump not only doubled-down in subsequent days and weeks, but also amplified his insults and threats. The goalposts changed: it was now about the deficit; it was the US which didn’t need or want anything Canada had; and then it was about annexation. He continued to mock not just Trudeau, but all of Canada. He began to sound serious about annexation, saying it would be done through “economic force”. The trade war had become a means toward a much greater end than border security—it was now about erasing the border altogether.

However, right now, thanks to Smith and Maple MAGA, it’s all gone back to November 25, 2024. The latest news is that Trudeau’s government has been sending Trump packages of videos showing evidence of Canadian actions to secure the border, hoping that this ransom payment will lead to being released from their kidnapper. So far, no response at all from the US.

Trump’s desire for a trade war mirrors what he is doing domestically: a grab for power. He is in a mad rush to restructure governance in a way that leaves executive power nearly absolute, and without challenge. Laws and a Constitution do not matter. Internationally, his nationalism is the same nationalism of colonialists and fascists: an expansive nationalism. What little nationalism one sees in Canada, on the other hand, is a defensive nationalism, in the same bracket with anti-colonial nationalism.

The Weakness

Canada is not above scrutiny or criticism, but generally not for the reasons that Trump and his Canadian supporters believe. Canada is in fact in a vulnerable and weakened state as it heads into a historic trade war. Canada is divided socially and politically, between provinces, and between the provinces and the federal government. It seems leaderless, because of Trudeau’s slow-motion exit, and so one thinks of a headless chicken. The problem, however, is that there are too many leaders now, too many cooks in the kitchen. Financially, with a massive budget deficit and post-pandemic economic shock continuing, Canada cannot afford a trade war and a new wave of price surges. Canadians are already over-taxed, and underpaid. The country has been badly damaged and even broken, particularly since 3/11/2020.

Necessary diversification of trade partners; building a nationwide energy pipeline system; removal of inter-provincial trade barriers and thus having domestic free trade; detaching Canada from US military and diplomatic alliances and priorities—none of this overdue and urgently necessary work has been done. I agree with those who condemn Canadian responses that immediately threw Mexico under the bus (which Ontario Premier Doug Ford continues to do), because that hinders any effort to unify and coordinate responses, internationally. It was a seriously dumb and bigoted move. It was the servile move of a loathed underling, trying to sidle up to the master by mimicking the master’s speech.

Right now Canada is in serious peril. It would not surprise me if the Emergencies Act were invoked yet again, to ensure top-down uniformity where bottom-up social unity does not exist. I spelled out other possible consequences when describing the “Doomsday Scenario”.

The Menace

There is only one underdog in this story, and that is Canada. Nobody can seriously dispute that. The same people who promise that the US will “absolutely crush” Canada in a trade war, because it is so much larger and more powerful, have no problem turning on a dime and claiming that the US is the victim of unfair treatment from Canada. Those two images do not match. That is what happens when either you do not know what you are talking about, or do not want others to know what you are really talking about. The mismatch is standard American foreign policy misdirection—it happened with Iraq in the lead up to the invasion in 2003, when Iraq was simultaneously cast as an existential threat to the security of the US and would be quick and easy to conquer.

Finally, what strikes me the most about Trump’s public statements on camera is the menace. That is a familiar face of menace, an unforgettable one. It’s the same face we have seen from the authorities since 2020, as they spoke of arresting, segregating, fining, and preventing travel for anyone who refused the shots. But the look of menace in the faces of a Trudeau, Ford, or Legault, was the look of false confidence, anger, and maybe fear. It was often like a teacher’s or priest’s menace. Trump is different: his menacing face comes with a look of pleasure. He seems to take delight in causing pain to others. It’s the look of sadism. This is the kind of person who can order executions, and then laugh about it and celebrate—as he has done. Just look at his face when he will be speaking of the pain he has inflicted on Canada, and then come back here and dispute what I said.

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