Ottawa
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The image may have been fake, but with each passing day, Canada is coming to terms with the fact that the threat may be real.
Canadians woke up Tuesday to a familiar troll ravaging their social media feeds. US President Donald Trump shared an image on Truth Social of him addressing European leaders against the backdrop of an AI-generated map showing flags flying over Canada, Greenland, and Venezuela.
So far, Canada’s relationship with President Trump has been fairly normal, and has been tested repeatedly over the past year.
What is different now is Canada’s reaction. The shock and aggression has passed, and Canada is now newly prepared to deal with the provocative and even threatening demands of the Trump administration.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out Canada’s path forward Tuesday, warning that more powerful countries are using “economic integration as a weapon,” “tariffs as leverage” and “supply chains as vulnerabilities to exploit.”
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Carney did not mention the United States by name, but characterized it as a global “disconnect” rather than a transition, adding: “The middle powers have to act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
Canada has spent nearly $1 billion to strengthen its southern border. Billions of dollars will be spent on defending the North.
Carney reiterated in Davos that Canada “stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully supports Greenland’s independent right to determine its future” and said Russia remains the greatest threat to Arctic security.
“We are working with our NATO allies, including the Nordic-Baltic Eight, to further ensure the security of the Alliance’s north and west through unprecedented investments in over-the-horizon radar, submarines, aircraft, boots on the ground and on the ice, and more,” he said.
In recent months, Canada has focused on promoting its new commitment to defence, particularly Arctic security.
One of Carney’s first acts as prime minister was to spend more than $4 billion on an “over-the-horizon” radar system that would provide early warning radar coverage of Arctic threats. He also pledged to expand and continue military presence in the Arctic in the years to come.
But with the arrival of President Trump, Canada’s national defense and strategic objectives have become more complex. Canada has the world’s largest land border with the United States and the world’s largest maritime border with Greenland.
Canada has conducted joint defense operations and programs with both NATO and NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) for decades, including this week’s NORAD mission in Greenland.
NORAD confirmed in a statement that aircraft operating from bases in the continental United States and Canada will be in Greenland to “support a variety of long-term planned NORAD activities that build on the enduring defense cooperation between the United States, Canada, and the Kingdom of Denmark.”
But will this kind of cooperation and new military spending be enough for the Trump administration?
The issue remains an open question, but the U.S. ambassador to Canada was willing to dodge the question in a radio interview last week.
Ambassador Pete Hoekstra was asked in an interview on CJAD 800 radio in Montreal whether the United States “needs to take action” if Canada determines it cannot adequately defend its Arctic border.
Mr. Hoekstra responded that the question was “almost purely hypothetical,” noting that “…the indication from the Canadian government was, ‘We want to work very, very closely with the United States on northern Canada.’
Canadian officials have not denied that they are currently considering whether to send troops to Greenland in a symbolic show of support for Greenland’s sovereignty.
The decision gave more weight to Carney’s Davos speech, in which he argued there was a third path: “The power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong if we choose to exercise them together.”
