I expect that Joly is going 'by the book', doing everything according to the legal procedure, so that if the American billionaire MAGA shithead defies the order to follow the agreement that he had signed when he purchased Stelco, the Canadian government will be legally covered for their (I hope full-strength) response.

We need to demonstrate to American billionaires that agreements should not be signed in pencil, that a signature on an agreement means that there will be severe consequences to breaking said agreements.

This actually makes sense. Northwestern Ontario is already in the Central time zone, so failing to follow Manitoba would have left northwestern Ontario a hour behind both Manitoba (in the winter months) and the rest of Ontario (all year round). Not ideal.

Permanent Daylight Saving Time is idiotic. It was tried before in the UK (1968-71), the USA (1973-74), Russia (2011-14) and Chile (2015). In each case, it was popular at first because it meant no more changing the clocks twice a year, but quickly became very unpopular because of early-morning traffic fatalities, children waiting for buses in pitch darkness, and general seasonal depression, made worse from it staying dark until late in the morning in winter.

Ontario has never wanted to leave Canada. However, northern Ontario has wanted to split from southern Ontario and form its own province within Canada. Source: I was born and grew up in northwestern Ontario and there was a fair amount of dislike of southern Ontario, but also strong pro-Canadian sentiment. In summary:

Resource Revenue - Northern residents feel local profits from mining, forestry, and hydro generation are siphoned to Southern Ontario with insufficient local reinvestment.

Transportation & Services - Higher gas taxes, highway maintenance backlogs, winter road safety, and limited transit (e.g., the elimination of Trans-Canada Greyhound bus service. Many small towns on the Trans-Canada highway are now almost impossible to reach without a car, without spending a lot more time and money).

Policy Disconnect - One-size-fits-all regulations designed for urban Toronto often fit poorly in northern wilderness environments.

Political Power - Northern Ontario holds roughly 10–13 provincial seats out of 124, making it difficult for northern MPs or MPPs to influence policy regardless of who forms government.

The National Post is owned by PostMedia, an American-controlled media conglomerate that has been pushing a hard-right, pro-Trump narrative in its many Canadian papers. None of the PostMedia owned papers is going to say anything against other PostMedia papers, and the non-PostMedia papers are just too pusillanimous to speak out. I personally think that Canadian papers should not be allowed to have non-Canadian ownership.

As everyone else here has said, this is a perfect example of FAFO. Everyone knows (except Maple MAGA types who live in their own false information bubble) that Russia is grabbing every adult male inside their borders that they can, to be sent to their deaths in Ukraine. To move to Russia shows a degree of wilful stupidity and/or ideological blindness that is beyond repair. It's basically like a person deliberately crossing and re-crossing a very busy highway because they think they are invulnerable.

No sympathy whatsoever for the idiot, but some sympathy for the children whom I assume had no choice.

1. It would be absolutely HILARIOUS if Mark Carney were to win next year's Nobel Peace Prize.

2. Donald Trump would have a meltdown. I would not be surprised if in his temper tantrum, he ordered a military invasion of Canada. The disconnect of ordering a war for not getting the Nobel PEACE Prize would escape him.

3. Mark Carney is NOT getting one, he has yet to do anything worthy of one. This might change in five or ten years, if his goal to create a new international system of middle powers that stabilizes the world and reduces international conflicts, succeeds.

Here is the actual code (obviously from when Queen Elizabeth was Monarch):

High treason

46 (1) Every one commits high treason who, in Canada,

(a) kills or attempts to kill Her Majesty, or does her any bodily harm tending to death or destruction, maims or wounds her, or imprisons or restrains her;

(b) levies war against Canada or does any act preparatory thereto; or

(c) assists an enemy at war with Canada, or any armed forces against whom Canadian Forces are engaged in hostilities, whether or not a state of war exists between Canada and the country whose forces they are.

Treason

(2) Every one commits treason who, in Canada,

(a) uses force or violence for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Canada or a province;

(b) without lawful authority, communicates or makes available to an agent of a state other than Canada, military or scientific information or any sketch, plan, model, article, note or document of a military or scientific character that he knows or ought to know may be used by that state for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada;

(c) conspires with any person to commit high treason or to do anything mentioned in paragraph (a);

(d) forms an intention to do anything that is high treason or that is mentioned in paragraph (a) and manifests that intention by an overt act; or

(e) conspires with any person to do anything mentioned in paragraph (b) or forms an intention to do anything mentioned in paragraph (b) and manifests that intention by an overt act.

Recall that Danielle Smith visited Trump at Mar-A-Lago shortly after he was reelected to the Presidency of the USA, for a meeting with undisclosed purpose. Rumours indicated that she and Trump discussed Smith opening the way to allow Trump to seize control of Alberta, after which she would be installed as Governer of occupied Alberta. Everything that she has done since that meeting regarding this astroturfed referendum campaign is consistent with this rumour. Not proof, but highly suspicious.

I once looked into whether Danielle Smith's known instances of collusion with Donald Trump against the territorial integrity of Canada constituted literal treason, and found that it did according to the relevant laws . But it appears that the feds are unwilling to arrest and try her for treason, for fear of the backlash among the Maple MAGA crowd.

1. I would laugh my ass off if Mark Carney actually won the Nobel Peace Prize.

2. The downside would be that Trump would certainly throw the mother of all temper tantrums, and possibly order a military invasion of Canada.

3. Mark Carney really has not done anything yet deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize (although that might change if he is as successful in founding a newer world order as he hopes, including robust climate change measures).