Marginalized, Equity-Deserving Academia

"The training is intended to further your personal journey of learning and action, regardless of  how knowledgeable or experienced you are, so attendance is mandatory irrespective of previous training or academic field of specialization."

"[By session's end, participants will understand their own] unconscious bias [and] reflect on and understand how power, privilege and meritocracy lead to inequities."

University of Saskatchewan

Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | sssss1gmel and Alexandr Baranov/iStock/Getty Images

"Mandatory Unconscious bias and anti-racism training" is a course at the University of Saskatchewan, one that reflects how most other Canadian universities view their mandate as institutes of higher learning, having undergone a radical alteration in academia from the original purpose of intellectual knowledge-gathering to social engineering, while still purporting to be fulfilling society's needs to produce highly cerebral-equipped graduates in their chosen fields of professional study.

 

The course in question was labelled with the official title of Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression and Unconscious Bias Faculty Development Session. Hiring committees of the university faculty are particularly urged to participate. Course materials inform participants to expect that they  will be given training around "systemic racism" of the university environment, coupled with the manner in which they have benefited from unearned racial privileges simply by being white, male and (shudder) cisgender. 

Michael Plaxton, a University of Saskatchewan faculty member, whose expertise is based in criminal law and statutory interpretation, spoke of the course as a "mandatory DEI boot camp", a "forced march of self-discovery". Two readings comprise the course; 1) White settler colonialism and the myth of meritocracy, composed by Indigenous activist Sheelah MacLean which details how white Saskatchewanians owe their prosperity to "150 years of racist, sexist and homophobic colonial practices".

The administration building of the University of Saskatchewan is photographed in Saskatoon. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

"The myth that Canadian society is created on individual work ethic ignores how racially dominant groups gain access to social and political power", reads the course.

 

The second course reading is comprised of a chapter from the 2022 book Confronting Institutionalized Racism in Higher Education, the chapter interviewing five "racialized" Canadian university faculty, concluding the entire system is set up to benefit white people: "Racialized faculty are expected to have accomplished more, yet their tenure and promotion files are always scrutinized through certain deficit-driven lenses of presumed incompetence". 

"Anti-racism" linked to everything from grant funding to hiring, to promotion hinges at Canadian institutions on the embrace of the doctrine of "anti-racism" with a candidate's willingness to accept the  tenets of "equity, diversity and inclusion", their key to humble admission as a penitent striving to correct a wrong while pursuing higher education. An analysis by the Aristotle Foundation found almost all Canadian academic job postings contain a "diversity requirement in the form of a mandatory diversity survey where the applicant is required to divulge various racial and sexual identities".

Alternately, in some instances a position can be explicitly limited to select demographics, such as confined to Black, Indigenous or female applicants. Research funding has succumbed to the standard practice of acknowledging and ascertaining the racial or sexual diversity of applicants. Criticism of these new guidelines pointed out that the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada requires applicants to list identity characteristics of prioritized research assistants.

 

Traditional Canadian guidelines on racial tolerance advocated for the most part, for race to be considered an irrelevance. Anti-racism on the other hand, is based on the premise that any equality of outcome is predicated on a racist system to be remedied by special treatment for groups considered marginalized or "equity-deserving". In the process, needless to say, being straight, white, and intellectually exceptional reflects an outlier, an undeserving racist to be punished in the aggregate.

 

Similar to most institutionalized anti-racism strategies, the University of Saskatchewan's DEI Framework for Action has "equity" as its goal, as opposed to equality. It defines itself as "taking the range of human attributes and qualities into account and providing each individual with what they need to be successful". 

Anyone naturally genetically endowed with superior intelligence and the will to maximize their academic credentials is just plain out of luck of they're white, straight and representationally mainstream.

 

Aristotle Foundation

"A growing number of high-profile cases suggest that diversity workshops and their supporting materials regularly promote questionable claims—particularly about the overarching, malicious character of the majority population."

"Similarly, hostility toward those who challenge DEI claims is part of the pattern."

"In Canada, students who challenge claims have been punished or expelled; employees have been suspended."

"One whistleblower who leaked DEI training session material maligning the majority population lost his employment."

Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy

Trump's Personal Quest For American Dominance

"Let's be real about this; the rhetorical attacks on Canada have not actually resulted in a net good for the United States."

"[The White House habit of] yelling at Canada [helped to install a] far left-leaning internationalist [government] hostile to American interests."

"All of this started off as a joke, and I think President Trump is so committed to the bit at this point that he couldn't get off the train [repeated pledges to turn Canada into the '51st state']."

Conservative U.S. podcaster Ben Shapiro

 

"[Poilievre would have been] Canuck DeSantis [Ron DeSantis, Republican governor of Florida who challenged Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination]."

"Trump will [and has already] weirdly get on with Carney."

"Trump  vibes with the smart, hyper-machievellaian center-left type."

Curt Mills, editor, American Conservative

Mark Carney with supporters at a victory party in Ottawa, 29 April 2025. Photograph: Dave Chan/AFP/Getty Images

 

U.S. President Donald Trump is smirking triumphantly. It has been his very direct interference in Canadian affairs that succeeded in upsetting the trajectory of the April 28 general election. A situation where the Liberal Party of Canada succeeded in gathering a greater number of votes, sufficient to form a minority government, than the Conservative Party which had been surging in the polls before Mr. Trump introduced the shock of  his announced trade tariffs targeting first Canada and Mexico and China, before he included much of the rest of the world.

The Canadian public was well and truly sick of the Liberal government, its never-ending ethical scandals, its impoverishment of the Canadian economy, its massive annual deficits and a debt larger than anything any previous government had ever attained. The federal government estrangement from the Western provinces linked to its green agenda of refusing to exploit the generosity of natural resources in the energy field, has caused a rift between the provinces themselves, favouring the east and damning the west.

 

Runaway rising costs of food and lodging, a failing universal health system overburdened by an unsustainable and indiscriminate surge in immigration, refugee and migrant intake, along with other social services strained to their limits, including insufficient and prohibitively costly housing stocks, rising crime rates that a soft judiciary intent on giving bail for the most serious criminal offenders leading to a steadily rising crime rate. The twin problems of growing homelessness among whom people in mental distress loom large, along with an ever-widening circle of drug dependent, overdose-prone addicts.

@PierrePoilievre

President Trump, stay out of our election. The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box. Canada will always be proud, sovereign and independent and we will NEVER be the 51st state.

Factor in ethnic/religious communities that no longer adapt to the Canadian way of life, its social contracts, its value system, its laws and regulations, and you have a restive population, resentful of a government whose policies and idiosyncracies in social engineering and race and gender politics have created deep divisions within society. All of which soured the public on the Liberal government headed by Justin Trudeau, the very embodiment of an entitled, sociopathic, deceitful, manipulative and narcissistic personality.

 

His government was in tatters; the antithesis of all that it represented was seen in the Conservative government with its leader, Pierre Poilievre prepared, given the Conservative-approving soaring polls, to win the next election. And then along came Donald Trump. And along came an international banker set to replace Justin Trudeau, boasting a record of accomplishment as former Governor of the Bank of Canada and of Great Britain. A man every bit as narcissistic as Trudeau, given to stretching the truth to suit his agenda, a man for whom plagiarizing and claiming as his own the intellectual work of others, slid by his supporters.

 

 

On the campaign trail Mark Carney who was elevated into the role of Prime Minister by the simple (and unprincipled) expedient of being voted in as leader of the Liberal Party in place of Justin Trudeau, and who then went on to boast of his professional expertise and successes in the world of finance, with no experience whatever in politics, and no seat in Parliament, to promise that he, and only he could lead Canada in its battle against an American president determined to economically ruin Canada and annex it into American territory.

 

Canadians in enough of a majority voted for the man who promised he would be Donald Trump's worse nightmare. A man who charged his Conservative competitor Pierre Poilievre of being just like Trump. When the truth is that Trump saw Poilievre as an impediment to his plans of absorbing Canada, and Carney as a useful tool in his extortion and coercion plans. Immediately after the election, US. President Trump spoke of Mark Carney as a "very nice gentleman" and their latest telephone conversation "couldn't have been nicer and I congratulated him". 

 

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the federal election, offering advice to Canadians about how they should vote. (Balce Ceneta/The Canadian Press)

 

He plans, he stated, to meet with Carney "within the next week or less" in Washington, and expects to have a "great relationship" with Canada. "I actually think the Conservative hated me much more than the so-called 'Liberal'", Mr. Trump admitted. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly asserted to the Associated Press that the Canadian election "does not affect President Trump's plan to make Canada America's cherished 51st state". And his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt reinforced that message; that Trump's calls for Canada to become the 51st state were "Trump truthing, all the way".

 

The Canadian election outcome was heavily weighed by the antagonism seen from Trump against Canadian sovereignty and his disdain for the role of any Canadian prime minister whom he preferred to call a 'governor'. Trump made no secret of the fact that he planned to ruin the Canadian economy, as additional pressure to have Canada accede to his plans of being absorbed into the United States;  his personal quest for American dominance.  

Canada: Girding Ourselves For More of the Disastrous Same

"We must condemn Hamas, and more importantly the terror sponsors in Tehran who initiated the attacks, the horrific attacks, of October 7."

"We need to defeat the terrorists so that all the people of the world can live in peace."

"We need to get back to the Canadian tradition, which is that when people come to this country, they leave foreign conflicts behind."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre

 

"People come from countries from around the world and they care deeply about where they come from and they should be able to do so."

"[Poilievre's treatment of Palestinians is] disgusting."

"[Carney is wrong for not repeating that Israel is committing a] genocide [in Gaza]."

"[An NDP government would] recognize the state of Palestine, impose sanctions on key figures in the Netanyahu regime [and] immediately impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh 

"[A  Liberal government calls for an] immediate ceasefire, [the] return of all the  hostages [and a two-state solution]."

"[We have to be] clear-eyed about the fundamental risk of Iran and do everything with our international partners to check it."

"[We note the] horrifying rise in hate, and hate-related crimes [of Islamophobia and antisemitism]."

Liberal leader Mark Carney

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in his concession speech that he intends to stay on as the head of his party. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

These were the positions directly impacting Canada's relations with the State of Israel following the Palestinian Hamas terror group's invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023, stated almost two years later by the competing political parties in Canada during the election campaign that culminated in the vote on April 28, 2025 that resulted in a fourth term of government office for the Liberal party. A Canadian vote that relegated the NDP to 'observer' status in the House of Commons when the vote count left it decimated and without official party status.

 

The only political party in Canada that defended the security and equality of Canadian Jews -- in a country so infiltrated by Palestinian and Muslim immigration, refugees and migrants that the country's Jewish population status has been violated by mobs of Hamas-sympathizing, Israel-hating, Jewish-demonizing rioters allowed to commit criminal offences that would never be tolerated by any level of government other than for Muslim groups, toward whom any criticism is immediately labeled 'Islamophobic' -- has been the Conservative party. 

 

To the great disappointment of the over four million Canadian voters that placed their trust in the Conservative party led by Pierre Poilievre, the Liberal party once again prevailed, to form a fourth consecutive government. To continue its ruinous governance of a once-great nation that has for the past ten years of government incompetence descended into economic insecurity, insufferable population density through runaway immigration policies, crime-ridden streets, identity politics leading to group alienation, provincial inequities, a faltering health-care system, and a housing crisis.

 

 

 

The platform of this 'new' Liberal government will be administered by the 'old' Cabinet minus the previous failed prime minister, which rubber-stamped every nation-crumbling initiative undertaken by the Justin Trudeau Liberal government. Where the green agenda of the previous Liberal government will now be resurrected on steroids by the new Liberal government, alienating Western Canada in its insistence that natural resources such as energy extraction will continue to be blocked, pipelines west-to-east, and exports abroad will be truncated, despite election promises to the contrary.

 

Crime in Canada has surged in the past decade under Liberal rule with dipping incarceration rates and a trend of rising crime. Asylum claims with foreign nationals requesting entry to Canada as refugees are surging, an increase of 1,700 percent from 2015 to 2025. Health care in Canada has been abysmal, with thousands of Canadians dying thanks to an incapacity in the health system for timely treatment; people dying while on wait lists for medical procedures necessary to sustain life.

 

Canada is drowning under a tsunami of national debt. The total sovereign debt stands at $1.4 trillion dollars. New debt has piled up since 2015 at a rate that eclipses anything in Canada's past. The federal public service, while delivering less service to the public than ever before, swelled to 367,722 from the 2015 total of 257,034 employees, a 43 percent increase. The recruitment crisis in the Canadian military has resulted in half of the military's ships, aircraft and vehicles are unusable, due to insufficient personnel to maintain them.

 

Runaway immigration has given us a population of 41.5 million, substantially increased from 2015's 34.8 million. Leading to critical shortages of doctors and adequate housing, while straining all public social services. Canada has one of the lowest birthrates in the world, 1.25 children per woman, similar to that of South Korea, Spain, Italy and Japan. Life expectancy in Canada has diminished; where the trend up to 2015 was longer lifespans, the past ten years has seen a reversal. 

 

Canadian per capita wages over the last ten years have fallen. The per capita GDP in 2015 was $43,594 according to the World Bank. In the last ten years the per capita GDP has stagnated; as of 2023 it was $44,468. Ten long, weary, disruptive, disappointing, disorienting years of Liberal governance has given Canada a faltering economy, a worsening of crime, pathetic public services, poor affordability levels, refugee backlogs and identity politics. And here we are, starting in on another four years of the same.

 

Canada election: Liberals secure fourth term in office in unexpected Mark Carney victory – video

 

 

"Like-Minded Allies" Canada/China

"In the time of growing uncertainty and Trump's tariffs threatening our economy and our sovereignty, it's more important [than] ever to protect and strengthen partnership with key trading partners such as Europe and China."

"The blend of tradition and innovation is something that I admire. Deepening our partnership with like-minded allies such as China present opportunities for shared prosperity and supports Canadians' role as a constructive and engaged player in the global economy."

"[The] Chinese community needs a strong voice to fight for them."

Majid Jowhari, Liberal MP Richmond Hill South

Liberal candidate Majid Jowhari puts a lawn sign into the ground of a supporter in Richmond Hill in 2021. (Credit: National Post file)

The Richmond Hill riding outside and just north of the Greater Toronto area, is 32.6 percent Chinese-Canadian.Their Member of Parliament, Majid Jowhari has represented the riding since 2015, and ran to preserve his seat in the 2025 federal election, held yesterday. In a video posted the day before the vote, published by a Chinese-language media outlet, Jowhari described a need for Canada to deepen its trade ties with China, particularly at a time when Canada is under threat of steep tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. 

This Liberal was actually trumpeting the prevailing and longstanding line of thought of the Liberal Party executive, from past prime minister Jean Chretien, to recently-departed Justin Trudeau, and the freshly-re-elected new prime minister of Canada, former international banker Mark Carney, all of whom have vigorously pumped for trade relations with China. Despite China's reputation as a hawkish burglar of other nations' science, technology, military and business trade secrets and its well-recognized habit of infiltrating foreign countries at every level, engaged in cyber-theft and stealth sabotage.

 

The candidate boasted of his frequent visits to China, his campaign to advocate against anti-Asian racism and his work in Parliament to regularize relations between Canada and China. "The Liberal party needs a voice to help strengthen the partnership between Canada, Chinese-Canadians and China. I am Majid Jowhari and I can be that voice. Please vote for Majid Jowhari on April 28. Thank you", his campaign message concluded.

 

Canadian national security agencies consider China to represent the most serious and sophisticated threat actor against Canada. The federal election monitoring task force warned on two occasions during this election campaign that the People's Republic of China was in all likelihood behind influence campaigns in Canada. And it has proven to have been, for years. Members of the task force of the Security Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) on Monday revealed that the PRC appears to be behind a transnational repression operation to undermine a Toronto-area Conservative candidate who happens to be a vocal critic of the Chinese regime.

 

The electoral interference watchdog revealed that the PRC was behind an information manipulation campaign on WeChat to influence positive opinion of Liberal leader Mark Carney. Liberal candidates have been revealed for their proximity to individuals suspected of ties to the Chinese government. The head of two organizations the RCMP tagged with operating a  secret Chinese police station, was invited by a Montreal area Liberal candidate to attend an election gathering. The PRC produced a "wanted" poster of a Toronto-area Conservative candidate, Joe Tay.

 

Another Toronto-area Liberal candidate attended a massive by-invitation military parade and show of martial power in Beijing that saw Peter Yuen Liberal candidate in Markham-Unionville attend the event, invited by a Chinese agency dedicated to influence ethnic Chinese in foreign  countries. He had replaced Paul Chiang following confirmation by the RCMP it was investigating comments made to Chinese media relating to Tay, the  Conservative candidate. Suggesting the crowd at an event could claim a bounty by turning Tay over to the Chinese consulate in Toronto. 

As it happens, Chinese-Canadian voters in the swath just north of the Greater Toronto area took it in their hands to cross the wishes of the Chinese government, voting out the Liberal candidates and bringing in their Conservative alternatives, foiling the work of the Liberals to represent Chinese interests, and voting for the Conservative candidates, directly opposing the Chinese election interference in Canada's affairs.

 

Jowhari was challenged for the seat by Conservative candidate and corporate lawyer Vincent Ho. Tellingly, Jowhari was co-chair of Parliament's Canada-China legislative association, as an 'advocate for the local Chinese-Canadian community'. That community chose to replace Jowhari, and vote in his stead for Conservative Vincent Ho, the new Member of Parliament for Richmond Hill South. In fact, the entire region, rejected their Liberal candidates and but for two seats that remained Liberal, all others switched to the Conservatives, no friends of China.

 

Conservative Vincent Ho is the new MP for Richmond Hill South  Mike Adler/Metroland

"[The People's Republic of China is the] main perpetrator [of clandestine and illegal influence operations in Canada]." 

"The PRC uses a range of tolls, including Canada-based proxies. These tools include the monitoring of diaspora communities and transnational repression; activities meant to impact the outcome of Canadian democratic processes [including providing financial support to preferred candidates]; and clandestinely shaping narratives in support of PRC strategic interests."

"[The Chinese government also exerts significant control on the Chinese-language traditional and social media platforms and uses the influence to promote] pro-PRC narratives, spread disinformation and suppress anti-China content."

Foreign Interference enquiry head Marie-Josee Hogue

The Islamic Republican Guard Corps Amateur Handling of Explosives

"Two conservative [Iranian] newspapers have suggested a possible link between the port explosion and the nuclear talks."

"Jomhuri-ye Eslami daily on April 28, 2025, wrote, “The coincidence of the explosion at Shahid Rajaei Port with one of the most sensitive periods of negotiations between Iran and the United States in Oman cannot be unrelated to the positive developments that have emerged in our country’s foreign policy”."

"Established and supported by the office of Supreme Leader, the paper accused Israel of seeking to derail the negotiations but also questioned who would take responsibility for the incident, warning that blame likely would be evaded, as usual."

"In an editorial, the Sobh-e No daily also noted that although the cause of the blast remains officially undetermined, its timing—alongside nuclear talks and heightened Israeli threats—raises the possibility of targeted sabotage."

Mardo Soghom, Middle East Forum

The explosion at the Bandar Abbas port happened during U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Shutterstock

"The fire was reportedly the result of improper handing of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles."

"[The port took in a shipment of] sodium perchlorate rocket fuel."

Private security firm Ambrey 

"Our security forces are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

Heavy smoke rises at the scene of an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock, southwest of Bandar Abbas.  Meysam Mirsadeh/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images

The massive explosion and fire Saturday in southern Iran that has destroyed a major part of Iranian shipping has been linked to a shipment of a chemical that is used in in the manufacture of missile propellant. The blast killed 70 people, while more than ten times that number were injured. The Shahid Rajaci port will be out of business for a very long time. While reaction to the blast and fire has been restrained in the sense that there have been no official statements suggesting this was the result of an attack, the thought is there, albeit for the present, submerged.

 

The expression of the country's foreign minister was as close a warning in its reminder of previous Israeli attacks on Iranian weapons facilities and the assassinations of some of the country's top nuclear scientists  as it's likely to be, at this stage. Few details have emerged on what caused the blaze close to Bandar Abbas, a conflagration that burned into Saturday night, when other containers began exploding, adding fuel to the fire.

 

The fuel in question formed part of a shipment from China shipped in two vessels to Iran back in January. The chemicals were meant to be used to replenish Iran's missile stocks, depleted through its direct attacks on Israel during its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. One of the vessels is believed to have carried the chemical in the area back in March, according to ship-tracking data. Iran has held back from acknowledging taking possession of the shipment. 

What is puzzling, given the obvious danger of storing and stocking such flammable explosives is why the chemicals would not have been moved out of the port. The situation resembles the Beirut port blast that took place in 2020 when that explosion, the result of  the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed over 200 people, injuring more than 6,000. Suspicion would, of course, naturally fall on Israel which has targeted Iranian missile sites where industrial mixers to create solid fuel are used by Tehran.

 

Thick black smoke was still towering above the port on Sunday   Getty Images

"Get back, get back! Tell the gas [truck] to go!"

"Tell him to go, it's going to blow up!"

"Oh God, this is blowing up!"

Everybody evacuate!

"Get back! Get back!" 

Reddish-black smoke was seen rising at Shahid Rajaei on social media footage Saturday from the fire, immediately prior to the explosion. The state-run IRNA news agency stated that the Customs Administration of Iran cast blame on a "stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical material stored in the port area", which caused the blast. A surveillance video distributed by the Fars news agency is that of a small fire appearing among containers, and alerted workers moving away from the area in a panic, before a huge explosion erupted. 

"[Prior to the blast there had been a] failure to observe safety principles [according to state-affiliated outlet Mehr News]."

"Determining the definitive cause of this incident requires a complete and comprehensive investigation of its various aspects, which, due to expert requirements, requires technical and laboratory processes."

"[There were] discrepancies [in a statement given to the committee which did not elaborate on what these might be or their source]."

Iranian Investigating Committee

Charred merchandise and containers lie at the site of the deadly port explosion.

Meysam Mirsadeh/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images

Trump's Legacy of U.S. Expansion

 "You've talked about acquiring Greenland, taking control of the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st State."

"Maybe you're trolling a little bit on that one. I don't know."

"Well, do you want to grow the American empire?"

'100 Days Interview', Eric Cortellessa

 

"Actually, no, I'm not."

"I think Canada, what you said that, 'Well, that one, I might be trolling'. But I'm really not trolling."

Canada is an interesting case. We lose $200 to $250 billion a year supporting Canada. And I asked a man who I called Governor Trudeau, I said: Why? Why do you think we're losing so much money supporting you?"

"Do you think that's right? Do you think that's appropriate for another country to make it possible, for a country to sustain, and he was unable to give me an answer, but it costs us over $200 billion a year to take care of Canada?"

"We're taking care of their military. We're taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don't need them to make cars for us ... We want to make our own cars."

"We don't need their lumber. We don't need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state."

U.S. President Donald Trump

Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2025. Photo by SAUL LOEB /Getty

 

"It's possible [Trump] was referring to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which in 2024, amounted to $63 billion for goods."

"But that number still is far short of $200 billion."

Time magazine

Time noted that the U.S. Department of Defense requested a budget of $849 billion for the 2025 fiscal year, checking back on the subject of "taking care of their military". The U.S., the magazine pointed out, is responsible for 60 percent of the cost of the radar system of the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), at a cost of $20 billion. 

 

"Do you want to be  remembered as a president who expanded American territory?", Cortellessa asked Trump, who responded "Wouldn't mind". 

 

Trouble is, Canadians WOULD mind, when it comes to their sovereignty and respect for a country called Canada, proud of its culture, its tradition, its heritage, its population and its values, some of which mesh with that of its neighbour, but many of which definitely do not. Becoming a part of the United States has never been an issue that Canada and Canadians found attractive, and the banter turning to economic threats to coerce the country to think otherwise have failed to find favour in Canada. In fact, the threat has impacted the federal election campaign that concludes tomorrow.

 

"We can no longer afford to have our economic success depend on such an unreliable partner. There's one person and that person is called President Trump. He's openly taking aim at Ontario's economy, threatening tariffs, disrupting supply chains, putting all of us at risk", stated Ontario Premier Doug Ford during a speech at the Public Policy forum's 2025 Canada Growth Summit in Toronto. 

"He actually wants to destroy our economy. It's not just words. He wants to do it. He wants to destroy our auto sector. He wants to destroy our manufacturing sector. He wants to try to take over Canada, and I can tell you: Canada is not for sale. We will never ever be the 51st state."

 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to media at Queen’s Park in Toronto, on Thursday, April 3, 2025. Photo by Laura Proctor /The Canadian Press

"Sometimes I think the cheese slips off the cracker with this guy."

"He wakes up in the morning ... and even his people around him are not too sure what he's going to do or what he's going to say."

"And it's pretty scary that, you know, one sentence out of the most powerful person in the world can change markets."

"It's about certainty. And he's created uncertainty around the world."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford

"We Will Pursue Them to the Ends of the Earth"

 

"Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice."

"Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger." 

"India will identify, track and punish every terrorist, their handlers and their backers."

"We will pursue them to the ends of the earth."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Tensions escalate between India and Pakistan after Kashmir attack – video

"We will not only reach those who have perpetrated this incident but also those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to commit such acts on the soil of India."

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

 

"We cannot get over the fact that such an incident has occurred, and that too in the place we call heaven on earth."

"Tourists have been coming to Kashmir since the last three or four decades and they have never been touched."

Akib Chaya, hotel owner, member, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce

Indian soldiers in Kashmir. The army confirmed there had been limited firing of small arms overnight. Photograph: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

 

"[Attempts to link Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack are] frivolous [Islamabad will respond to any Indian action]."

"Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains."

Pakistan statement

"Clear evidence of cross-border complicity" has been presented by Indian investigators in the wake of the gruesome attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir when gunmen opened fire in a deadly attack that saw 26 innocent people die. A group called the Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the attack. Indian officials identify it as a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba based in Pakistan. For its part, Islamabad has vehemently denied any involvement, denying that India has in fact any proof of their accusations against Pakistan. 

The Kashmir attack represented the most deadly assault in years in the restive region, an attack that targeted civilians. The region has seen more than its share of anti-India attacks in the past thirty years. Indians are shocked and outraged at the deadly event, raising calls that their country take action against Pakistan. The initial claim for the attack was a terrorist group previously unheard of, that called itself the Kashmir Resistance. Pakistan's instant reaction was that there was no involvement on its part.

 

India's "belligerent measures" were condemned by Pakistan's National Security Committee. Claiming that while Pakistan remained committed to peace, it would never permit anyone to "transgress its sovereignty, security, dignity and inalienable rights". At a time when it was a Pakistani 'resistance' group that mounted the deadly attack, so in essence, Pakistan is condemning India for reacting to the transgression of ITS sovereignty, security, dignity and inalienable rights. How that makes sense is debatable. 

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.  Associated Press

The most immediate reaction was that of India, followed by Pakistan, cancelling visas for their nationals to enter the others' countries. New Delhi has been 'warned' by Islamabad for suspending a water-sharing treaty in the aftermath of the tragedy. All visas issued to Pakistani nationals were to be revoked effective Sunday; and all Pakistanis in India at the present time given notice they must leave before the expiration of their visas based on a revised timeline.

 

Other measures were also announced, including reducing the number of diplomatic staff, closing the sole land border crossing between the two nations, and suspending a crucial water-sharing agreement. Pakistan, in retaliation has closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or -operated airlines, as well as suspending all trade with India. Included in that suspension is trade to and from any third country. There were hints by government authorities representing both sides that matters could escalate militarily.

 

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir as their territory entirely, even as each administers a part of the disputed Kashmir. Clashes between the two countries' military break out occasionally and then die down almost spontaneously. Kashmiri separatists out of Pakistan mount terrorist raids of much smaller dimensions from time to time in a never-ending commitment to bring terror to Indian Kashmir. These are Islamist death squads brewed in Pakistan in reflection of the culture of war and confrontation between the two competitors for Kashmiri exclusive entitlement.

 

For the present, a number of Pakistani diplomats were ordered to leave New Delhi, while Indian diplomats were summarily recalled from Pakistan leaving diplomatic missions in each of the countries with reduced staff from May 1 forward. Indian citizens were advised not to travel to Pakistan by India's foreign ministry, which has also urged those of its citizens currently in Pakistan to depart for India.

 

The landmark water-sharing treaty in place between the two countries despite two wars and a major border skirmish, has now been suspended indefinitely, with Pakistan angrily responding to warn that any Indian attempt to stop or divert the flow of water would be considered an "act of war", to be met with "full force across the complete spectrum" of Pakistan's national power.

 

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference members attend a protest after tourists were killed, in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday, April. 23, 2025.  Mukhtar Khan/AP

 

"We very much appeal to both the governments … to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further."

"Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe, can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement."

UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric

 

"There are many imponderables Modi must deal with, including the significant capabilities of the Pakistan army."

"But given the horrific nature of the attack and the outrage that has convulsed the nation – the victims came from 15 states across India – the PM may have no option but to explore some major risks."

C Raja Mohan, veteran analyst, Indian Express

Supporters of the Indian Secular Front, along with others, stage a protest over the killing of more than 25 tourists at Pahalgam. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock