Friday Focus: the danger of Canada’s “war” rhetoric
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is consequential. But there's a big difference. There is a line. Uh war is a a problem of a totally different order of magnitude and we have to be careful how we use that language.
Welcome to the Friday Focus Podcast for the twenty-fifth of September twenty twenty-six. I'm Rudyard Griffiths, Chair of the Monk Debates, joined in studio by my co-host Janice Grosstein. Hey Janice.
Roger, you just sent a chill through my spine when you said the twenty-fifth of September. That means by next Friday Focus September will be gone and October will be here. Not good news.
I know. You are not a winter person, are you, Janice? You what is that? Is it you're a Montrealer, so you grew up in, you know, one of the toughest urban environments in Canada for bad winters and now you're a
wimp. I'm a total wimp in you.
What is the main focus of the Friday Focus episode on Canada’s “war” rhetoric?
The only thing I can say I must have been traumatized by those Montreal winters and still have PTSD because I hate winter.
Well, we'll we'll have to do something about that. Maybe we'll we'll let you tape from the comfort of your cozy home uh on on Fridays starting at least December first. I think we can be we can be tolerant that way. But great to have you in the studio again today. So much to talk about. Uh lots of stuff happening, a big unga UN General Assembly meeting, a whole bunch of speeches. We have the Trump G summit rapid. Wrapping up. But before we get to that, uh a story caught my eye this week and I know You had a number of people email you about it. It's a topic that I've had a lot of People reach out to me s really since Donald Trump's re election, and it was the reports in an interview that. Prime Minister Mark Carney gave to the New York Times that he had
I I it wasn't entirely clear. Either instructed officials or officials of the Department of Defense had prepared a series of scenarios for how the Canadian Armed Forces would deal with a US military invasion of Canada. What do you make of this and why does this seem to be such Such a persistent worry for a not insignificant segment of the public when the Prime Minister in his own words described this in uh using kind of financial speak as a quote tail risk, close quote.
What he what he said, Roger, was an extreme tail risk. So what does that mean in simple English? It means a very, very, very low probability of something that were to happen could be very damaging. So
think so. Yeah, that's the understatement of of September twenty twenty six.
So he then goes on to say, and this is his background, right? Uh, in, you know, as governor of two banks, you look at these very, very, very unlikely scenarios, but oh my God, if they happen, they could wipe you out. You have to look at them. Um and trying to understand how w what how low is the likelihood? What would be a good warning indicator? What should you watch for um along the But Janice, this
was more than this. This was specific military planning as to what we would do if US troops uh invaded were physically in Canada, how we would fight that war. And before we get to some of the tactics that were discussed. Because again, this is just seems so out there. It's one thing to conduct a scenario analysis like this, and in fact it may be the responsible thing to do. But why communicate this publicly in the New York Times, no less? I mean, what is the what's the role and function of taking something that could be a prudential, confidential, no doubt high security? uh secret exercise and then reveal that in the single largest arguably media institution in the world.
First
of all, by the way,
Roger, this story was leaked to the globe months ago. And all these details are were already published in the Globe and it was leaked by so called military planners, which means it came out of the Defense Department in one way or the other. So it wasn't This was not news to any US official who clearly monitor what's in the Canadian press, but it is striking that he talked about this in an hour long interview with the New York Times, where it gets play that it would never get otherwise. Now how did this happen?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:53
2
What is the main focus of the Friday Focus episode on Canada’s “war” rhetoric?
0:53–5:26
3
How did Prime Minister Mark Carney describe the U.S.‑Canada invasion scenario as a “tail‑risk”?
5:26–10:22
4
What specific military scenarios were outlined for a possible U.S. invasion of Canada?
10:22–14:53
5
Why are Canadian politicians using war‑like language to address the trade dispute?
14:53–18:52
6
How does the hosts argue that the war rhetoric is harmful and unnecessary?
18:52–25:06
7
What does public sentiment reveal about fears of a U.S. invasion?
25:06–27:55
Speakers
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