When history repeats itself, it is not always a farce.
When Justin Trudeau headed off to London on the invitation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the summit on the war in Ukraine, Canada’s soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister, in spite of himself, brilliantly recalled Canada’s British colonial and military history. His meeting with Charles III, King of Canada and head of state, added another layer illustrating how artificial Canada’s sovereignty really is.
The London summit produced a military plan for Ukraine to prepare for a “coalition of the willing”—echoing George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq—that would send “deterrence” troops to Ukraine. Trudeau trumpeted that Canada will “volunteer” and send troops. Since then, war drums are beating even louder.
In the meantime, the U.S. suspended military aid to Ukraine, cut off intelligence support, and is seeking to negotiate directly with Russia.
Déjà vu all over again
Instead of crying foul about the undiplomatic behavior of the current American president, it is much better to recall American policy during the last two world wars initiated in Europe.
World War I: The United States steered clear of it until 1917, despite non-stop pleas for help from the British and French. U.S. strategy consisted in reaping the benefits after its “friends,” “allies” and enemies had beaten each other to a pulp. It was a winning strategy for Washington that came out on top, almost unscathed.
Canada, which was still a British colony was ordered enlisted right from the beginning because it was the “Mother Country” which controlled Canada’s foreign policy.[1] To provide troops, Ottawa would impose conscription in 1917 and cause a major crisis, particularly with Quebec. On April 1, 1918, under the War Measures Act, Canadian soldiers deployed to Quebec fired on an anti-conscription demonstration in Quebec City’s Lower Town, killing four people.
World War II: Washington adopted the same winning strategy. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941—two years and three months after the start of the war in Europe against Germany—Roosevelt declared war on Japan the next day, but not on Germany! It took Adolf Hitler’s and Benito Mussolini’s declarations of war on the United States on December 11, 1941, in solidarity with Japan, to bring the U.S. into the European war.
In short, Washington reluctantly entered the war on Nazi Germany. It used the same strategy with its Soviet ally. Washington—and London—waited a long time before seriously engaging on the European continent in order to reap the benefits once their ally, the Soviet Union, had been seriously weakened.
Canada, on the other hand, true to its former colonial status, joined the mother country in declaring war on Germany on September 10, 1939, seven days after the U.K. Ottawa would impose conscription once again in 1942 after promising not to impose it and after holding a plebiscite that was biased against Quebec. This led to another serious crisis in Quebec.
SOS Charles de Gaulle
The current U.S. administration, which is unfortunately personalized as people shout “Trump did this and Trump did that,” is simply taking a page from the U.S. strategic playbook with regard to European wars.
European leaders, who have wittingly bought into the strategy of previous American administrations and abandoned their own independent foreign policies, are now blindly marching toward another world war, this time with Russia. They are trying to be NATO but without the commander and its military hardware. They refuse to learn from their disastrous mistakes of the 20th century in Europe.
Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau, speaking for all Canadians as he is about to leave office, chimes in: “War? Yes Sir!”
They appear to have learned nothing from General Charles de Gaulle, who tried not to allow his country to be subservient to anyone. NATO is a prime example of de Gaulle’s independence.
On March 7, 1966, de Gaulle informed the Americans of France’s decision to leave NATO’s general command. His reasoning was crystal clear:
- Being part of NATO’s general command could lead France, even against its will, into an escalation that could lead to “a general conflagration,” since “Europe’s strategy in NATO is that of the United States.”
- France must have full self-determination, which is essential to believing in its role and being useful to others; such a desire is “incompatible with a defense organization.”
Sarkozy put an end to de Gaulle’s policy and rejoined NATO’s general command on March 11, 2009, a decision that could not be more symbolic of Europe’s current subjugation.[2]
For Quebec, and Canada, recalling this 1966 decision made by General de Gaulle inevitably leads us to his “Vive le Québec libre” at Montreal’s city hall on July 24, 1967, but also to his expulsion from Canada 36 hours later.
In these worrying times for Quebec, Canada and Europe, we have much to learn from the man who led his country to the liberation of Nazi Germany while fiercely ensuring that France maintained its independence from a rising and dominant Anglo-American empire.
In the case of the war in Ukraine, this cannot be expected from Trudeau nor from his successor, ex-banker Mark Carney.
Canada has always had a shameful history of hate for Russia and the Soviet Union and blind support for the Ukrainian right-wing, from the time of the Nazi collaborators in the Waffen SS Galizien to today’s reincarnation in the form of the Azov battalion and the current Ukrainian government.
In accepting the position as new head of the ruling Liberal Party of Canada, Mark Carney stated that his government would meet NATO’s demands of devoting 3 percent of GDP to military spending.[3]
Moreover, he has announced that his first international trip will be to the UK and then to France, which shows his allegiance to the main war mongers in Europe.
Will the people of Quebec and Canada go along with this and eventual conscription? That will be the question.
Canada had been granted the right to self-government in 1867 but was not given full legal autionomy from the British until 1982. ↑
France did in 1999 participate in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and was part of the U.S. led coalition that invaded Iraq in 1991 and Afghanistan in 2001. ↑
For good analysis, see Roger Jordan, “Former Central Banker Carney to Become Canada’s Prime Minister,” World Socialist Website, March 10, 2025. ↑
CovertAction Magazine is made possible by subscriptions, orders and donations from readers like you.
Blow the Whistle on U.S. Imperialism
Click the whistle and donate
When you donate to CovertAction Magazine, you are supporting investigative journalism. Your contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the Magazine.
CovertAction Magazine does not receive corporate or government sponsorship. Yet, we hold a steadfast commitment to providing compensation for writers, editorial and technical support. Your support helps facilitate this compensation as well as increase the caliber of this work.
Please make a donation by clicking on the donate logo above and enter the amount and your credit or debit card information.
CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your gift is tax-deductible for federal income purposes. CAI’s tax-exempt ID number is 87-2461683.
We sincerely thank you for your support.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s). CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI), including its Board of Directors (BD), Editorial Board (EB), Advisory Board (AB), staff, volunteers and its projects (including CovertAction Magazine) are not responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. This article also does not necessarily represent the views the BD, the EB, the AB, staff, volunteers, or any members of its projects.
Differing viewpoints: CAM publishes articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis. Feel free to comment on the articles in the comment section and/or send your letters to the Editors, which we will publish in the Letters column.
Copyrighted Material: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of New York, we are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of humanity’s problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. You can read more about ‘fair use’ and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.
Republishing: CovertAction Magazine (CAM) grants permission to cross-post CAM articles on not-for-profit community internet sites as long as the source is acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original CovertAction Magazine article. Also, kindly let us know at info@CovertActionMagazine.com. For publication of CAM articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: info@CovertActionMagazine.com.
By using this site, you agree to these terms above.
About the Author
Robin Philpot is a graduate of the university of Toronto and founder of Baraka Books in Montreal.
He is author of A People’s History of Quebec, with Jacques Lacoursière (Baraka Books, 2009); and Rwanda and the New Scramble For Africa: From Tragedy to Useful Imperial Fiction (Baraka Books, 2013), among other works.
Robin can be reached at philpotrobin@gmail.com.
Phil Taylor is the host of The Taylor Report, CIUT 89.5 Toronto and on line. He is a superannuated radio kid who grew up listening to William Mandel and Kenneth Rexroth on KPFA Berkeley. Ex-Marine; an investigator at Roach & Schwartz, several years at UN Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. Phil can be reached at p.s.taylor68@gmail.com
The Canadian province of Quebec which is mostly French speaking is also a strong supporter of Ukraine as are the majority of Canadian citizens.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/quebec-legislature-adopts-unanimous-motion-in-support-of-ukraine/