# Would US troops fire on Canadian civilians? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 8, 2025, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046 "2025-02-08T11:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/482 "2025-03-04T20:56:54Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Canadians do NOT need to be generous to Trump. We own him NOTHING. Then your energy would be better expended fighting the things he HAS threatened to do to your country rather than worrying about something he’s never given any indication of wanting to do, which he’s never done before, and which fundamentally goes against how he’s been doing things for 55 years. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/483 "2025-03-04T21:01:47Z")
We can do both. Those are synergistic efforts. Trump is a danger to Canadian sovereignty in his words, plans, and actions. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/484 "2025-03-04T21:35:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > When have they said they’re “going to annex Canada”? Be specific. “51st state” would mean annexation, right? The President of the USA say he’s going to use “economic force” to make Canada be the 51st state isn’t… annexation? I mean, one can fool oneself into not seeing the truth all one wants. You can even say “Harris is gonna win!” at 10 PM on election night if you’re sufficiently motivated to squint really hard and tilt your head sideways. If you refuse to see what’s afoot here that’s fine, have at it. According to the Pollyannas, Trump wasn’t even going to be President. We’ll just pretend “let’s use economic force to make Canada the 51st state” isn’t the first salvo. I’m curious as to why YOU think Trump, with no visible opposition from anyone in his party, is doing this. If it was just him, I’d accept it’s that he’s stupid. But it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/485 "2025-03-04T22:04:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 51st state” would mean annexation, right? The President of the USA say he’s going to use “economic force” to make Canada be the 51st state isn’t… annexation? No. “Annexation” implies involuntary union through unilateral action, which Trump has not in any way proposed. Did Canada “annex” Newfoundland in 1949? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/486 "2025-03-04T22:08:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Annexation” implies involuntary union through unilateral action, which Trump has not in any way proposed. Of course he has, with his talk of “economic force”, and of course the simple fact that they’d never join any other way. It’s absurd to pretend otherwise. Bending over backwards to _pretend_ the Right and/or Trump have anything other than the worst intentions and motives does nothing but enable and encourage them. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/487 "2025-03-04T22:13:12Z")
Incredibly obtuse. Canada is not voluntarily joining the US as a state. Trump is a rapist where “No” means “try harder and with more force”. No means NO. To all his enablers in the White House, Congress, SCOUS, all the Governors, state officials, even the municipalities and right leaning American voters. No means NO. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/488 "2025-03-04T22:35:54Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Incredibly obtuse. Canada is not voluntarily joining the US as a state. Of course it isn’t. It won’t be joining involuntarily either, because the US isn’t going to invade it, because Trump is and has always been a chickenshit bully who always ALWAYS backs down from a real fight and is viscerally disgusted by violence. Thinking that “Canada should become our 51st state” means “I’m gonna invade Canada” indicates a complete misunderstanding of how Donald Trump thinks and talks. If he wanted to invade Canada he wouldn’t be coy about it. He’d be saying it out loud and explicitly and he’d be boasting about how easy it would be. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/489 "2025-03-05T01:06:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Thinking that “Canada should become our 51st state” means “I’m gonna invade Canada” indicates a complete misunderstanding of how Donald Trump thinks and talks. If he wanted to invade Canada he wouldn’t be coy about it. He’d be saying it out loud and explicitly and he’d be boasting about how easy it would be. Really reassuring to us Canadians when guys like Mike Waltz “doesn’t think there is a plan to invade Canada”. > **[Trump’s national security adviser says he doesn’t ‘think there’s any plans to...](https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/trumps-national-security-adviser-says-he-doesnt-think-theres-any-plans-to-invade-canada/article_74e55954-e70b-11ef-bf2e-7b7ebcc460f5.html)** > > Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz responded to claims made by Justin Trudeau that the Trump administration is serious about annexing Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/490 "2025-03-05T01:17:58Z")
Meanwhile they can’t even stick to their guns on tariffs for more than 36 hours at a time. > **[Lutnick: US could announce trade deal Wednesday with Mexico and Canada after...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/04/business/us-tariffs-trade-deal-mexico-canada/index.html)** > > US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that President Donald Trump could announce a trade deal with Mexico and Canada as soon as tomorrow, just one day after the US imposed punishing tariffs on the two nations and sparked retaliatory levies. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/491 "2025-03-05T01:35:51Z")
Meanwhile, a British observer observes this: > **[Plain Kate (@k8thek8.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/k8thek8.bsky.social/post/3ljlbp5kyrs2l)** > > okay, this was in the comments on YouTube under someone responding to a militia cosplay dude in West Virginia threatening to invade Canada with his buddies through the Rockies, and it made me bust out laughing, so thank you unknown Brit [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:wbpu7nxr5uamu3lpujl75pxa/bafkreiaeqyocavcg2pt7gjsg3cvkzgxpqhseaaanhggp34uea7t62jp6xa@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:wbpu7nxr5uamu3lpujl75pxa/bafkreiaeqyocavcg2pt7gjsg3cvkzgxpqhseaaanhggp34uea7t62jp6xa@jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/492 "2025-03-05T01:43:17Z")
Sorta like moose they seem like harmless herbivores until you piss them off. In the immortal words of the guy from _Fierce Creatures_: “Raze whole villages they will when they get their back up!” ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/493 "2025-03-05T01:54:04Z")
Two words. Weaponized geese. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/494 "2025-03-05T03:15:31Z")
Around the end the interviewer isn’t focusing on the important stuff but Foreign Minister Joly’s words were [still clear and strong here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1QUAr6qHKA). “They are trying to renegotiate ALL matters (security, borders, water, etc)” “This is an existential threat to Canada.” “Bogus excuses and chaos” “Trump is ruling by executive order, not following any constitutional laws” ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/495 "2025-03-05T10:39:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In the immortal words of the guy from _Fierce Creatures_: “Raze whole villages they will when they get their back up!” Could we explore that thinking a little? 😀 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/496 "2025-03-06T01:55:04Z")
Peter Navarro, senior advisor to Trump: “Canada has been taken over by Mexican cartels.” One more little move towards manufacturing consent; the constant statements Canada isn’t a democracy. The pollyannas will all claim to have seen it all along. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/497 "2025-03-06T02:02:44Z")
> “What I want to say to every world leader who gets up in arms when all we’re asking for is fairness and to have them stop killing our people is, ‘Please, listen to us.’ Canada could do a lot more. Canada has been taken over by Mexican cartels. They bring up these pill presses and printers and the medicines that they fake. You can’t tell the difference,” Navarro added. > **[‘We’re Asking For…Fairness’: Navarro Defends Tariffs To Combat Cartels,...](https://dailycaller.com/2025/03/05/peter-navarro-tariffs-china-mexico-canada-donald-trump/)** > > Peter Navarro defended the Trump admin's follow-through on implementing tariffs, stating that the U.S. is asking for' So the goalpost have moved from fentanyl to fake medicine? Sadly, Americans have no agency and their drug use is clearly not their own choice. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/498 "2025-03-06T09:23:41Z")
Jeez, today it’s Mexican cartels, and a few days ago, it was Asians. Posted on a predominantly right-wing/MAGA message board on March 2, 2025: > [@](#): > > … [I]t is well known that some of the Asians [that] Canada has allowed to enter their country have set up fentanyl labs and have been smuggling the stuff into our country. Nearly 50 pounds was caught. Hundreds more likely have already gotten through. That is enough to kill millions of people. It has to be stopped. Who will it be next? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/499 "2025-03-06T12:52:59Z")
A more fulsome explication of Lawrence Britt’s #3 in 14 Characteristics Common to Fascist Regimes: > 1. Identification of enemies/scape-goats as a unifying cause. The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people’s attention from other problems, to shift blame for failures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice—relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite “spontaneous” acts against the target scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and “terrorists.” Active opponents of these regimes were inevitably labeled as terrorists and dealt with accordingly. [**SOURCE**](https://secularhumanism.org/2003/03/fascism-anyone/) Luckily, Canadians are nowhere _near_ as bad as those syphilitic dog-fuckers from [checks notes] Greenland and Panama!! Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/500 "2025-03-06T20:17:30Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Annexation” implies involuntary union through unilateral action Not always. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say not usually. Most dictionaries don’t even mention these implications in their definitions of “annex” or “annexation”. > [@Smapti](#): > > Did Canada “annex” Newfoundland in 1949? Yes, and it’s easy to find reputable sources using that word to describe the merging of Canada and Newfoundland (as well as the merging of East and West Germany, and no doubt many other voluntary unions). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046/501 "2025-03-06T20:21:14Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Not always. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say not usually. Most dictionaries don’t even mention these implications in their definitions of “annex” or “annexation”. Yeah, I’ve seen it used both ways. As a conqueror “annexing” a neighbor by force, and as some region “requesting annexation” by a friendly neighbor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-us-troops-fire-on-canadian-civilians/1014046.md?page=26)