February 5, 2025
Dear Editor,
In last week’s edition of The Oran, I enjoyed Rankin MacDonald’s summary of the newly-elected president of the excited States of America. I can’t even force myself to say his name out loud because there are too many disrespectful adjectives that would proceed his name. His election was one that will change the world for a period of time; how long that will be we do not know for sure, but what we are sure of is that what he is doing is not in the best interest of building positive democratic relationships. The world is stuck with him for the next four years and we will have to live with the consequences. As Canadians, we know to stand up to bullies so we have to find the will power and strength to do so for as long as it takes.
But as harshly as his changes will be on our economy, the Americans have it worse, as he is also dismantling the very structure of their government. We expected him to add tariffs and to deport illegal immigrants, beginning with those who had committed crimes. We figured those things would happen until it affected their economy and/or their stock markets negatively. But the changes are much more than economic impacts.
Some of his other actions include:
– Repealed many of Biden’s actions, revoking Electric Vehicle targets and other climate initiatives.
– Withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO).
– Withdrew from Paris Climate Accord.
– Unleashed oil and gas production, especially in Alaska – “Drill, baby, drill.”
– Ended birthright citizenship (in the constitution).
– Pardoned 1,600 January 6th convicts, including organizers and violent offenders.
– Threatened Panama and Greenland with military takeover.
– Re-opened Guantanamo Bay Detention centre.
– Halted DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in all government departments.
– Rolled back protections for Transgender people, recognizing only two sexes.
– Halted federal government hiring, except military.
– Re-classified all federal employees as “political hires” making it easier to fire those who don’t support him.
– Gave Elon Musk power to find government efficiency – he has now offered federal employees pay until September if they will resign now.
– Paused USAID, leaving many global organizations in the lurch.
– Fired Justice Department prosecutors involved with his court cases and/or January 6th.
– This past weekend, Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE” took over the government’s computers, including the Treasury Department. This is huge.
And throughout all of this, the newly elected President believes he can make Canada the 51st state!
How are all those people in the USA who voted for him feeling now? Many are still supporting him, although an increasing percentage of the US population do not. But he doesn’t care, as he has the House, the Senate and the Judiciary on-side, at least for now. He seems to think he is omnipotent. We’ll have to see if that changes once the tariffs and deportations affect people’s livelihoods and cost of living.
It is currently a very unusual political situation because we also have to deal with a political bully right here in Canada in our upcoming election. Last year, Pierre Poilievre was being referred to as a “Mini-Trump” for adopting his campaign methods (catchy slogans, derogatory titles for opponents, etc). Stating Canada was broken but HE was going to fix it. His four key slogans – “Axe the tax,” “Build the homes,” “Fix the budget,” and “Stop the crime” – are consistent political soundbites, and he will forever blame Justin Trudeau for our challenges.
To date, all Poillievre has done is criticize and attack – like a yappy little dog, he doesn’t quit. He has been a member of Parliament since he was 24 years old. All Canadians should think twice about voting for the right-wing Conservatives and allowing Poilievre to adopt Republican governing methods. While I don’t believe he would be as radical as the U.S. newly elected president, and our Canadian Parliamentary mode of government differs from the excited States, it is still scary what he might do with a majority government…let’s make sure he doesn’t get the chance…
Paul Strome and
Joanne Patience-Strome
Antigonish