Let's talk about a US lawmaker wanting $300 billion from Canada....

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Belle of the Ranch 4 min 1 speaker 5 chapters transcribed 1 month ago

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What is the US Senator’s $300 billion demand from Canada about?

Belle of the Ranch 0:01

Well, howdy there, internet people, it's Belle again. So today we're going to talk about a US lawmaker wanting $300 billion from Canada. Over the weekend at the Halifax International Security Forum. Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina seemed to dismiss Canada's move to up its defense spending in support of NATO. and simultaneously dismiss Canada's contributions to the United States. The whole thing started with Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty talking about how the country is on track to hit NATO's target defense expenditure by the end of the fiscal year.

How does Senator Tillis justify the $300 billion shortfall claim?

Belle of the Ranch 0:45

At one point, saying what We are rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces on a massive scale and at speed. We're making generational investments into our security, our sovereignty, and our resilience. Senator Tillis said quote Can we do a makeup payment for the twenty years of shortfalls as well? And then went on to say

Why does the host say the shortfall is due to an unreliable US defense partner?

Belle of the Ranch 1:15

It's fine to say you're about to catch up. But it's not fun to look past a three hundred billion shortfall. And then later, he recalled a meeting with Trudeau. Saying quote I said, Mr. Trudeau, I've looked back over the last 20 years, and every prime minister has said the same thing. We're going to get to it. And they never got to it.

What cultural shift is changing how Canadians view the United States?

Belle of the Ranch 1:40

As a result, there's a $300 billion shortfall in our mutual defense. Over the last twenty years. The idea that Canada isn't pulling its weight when it comes to NATO is laughable. Unless you think about it too much, then it becomes insulting. When it comes to commitment to NATO, Article five has only been invoked once. by the United States. And Canada came to our defense. Thousands of Canadians were wounded and more than one hundred and fifty were lost fighting our war in Afghanistan. Senator Tillis doesn't seem to understand that a prime driver for increased Canadian defense expenditures isn't some imaginary bill. It's that the US has become an unreliable defense partner.

How does the episode argue that US leadership in NATO is eroding?

Belle of the Ranch 2:34

That was certainly highlighted by that joke of a peace deal for Ukraine, that Tillis' party is floating. Even though NATO's Article five has only ever been invoked by the US for Afghanistan. The alliance was designed to counter near peers, but That call for surrender shows that the US doesn't currently have the will to do that. Because the US has lost its leadership role in the world. Canada is stepping up their defense spending. It seems like the only person on the US delegation that really grasped the situation was Senator Angus King of Maine, who said quote. The deeper problem is the cultural break. The idea that Canadians now don't think of Americans as their friends and their neighbors. But as an adversary.

Belle of the Ranch 3:28

I would hope that Canadians don't think of us as an adversary. But I'm sure they don't think of us as a leader in the alliance anymore. Maybe a Canadian channel like Guard the Leaf can give us a better sense of how they're feeling. For decades, the United States has acted as though it was the dominant power in the world. Because it behaved like one. The country can't retreat into isolationism and still expect other countries to treat it like a leader. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

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