Speech taken directly from the video. Forgive me for any typos(point out in the comments and I’ll fix)
Good morning. Bonjour Charlie Angus. Proud to be here on the unseated territory of the Algonquin nation.
This past week, the world stood frozen as the madman with the nuclear codes used the threat of destroying a civilization as a negotiating tactic.
Terrifying, but not nearly as terrifying as the fact that no one is stepping up to stop him.
We are witnessing the collective failure and complicity of the political institutions, the courts, the media, and the business class of the most powerful nation on earth. And where are the allied nations hoping, perhaps, that he won’t notice us?
This past week, we learned that Donald Trump said he wasn’t going to invade Canada or force the movement of the border—not because we’re a democratic ally, not because it would be a breach of international law, but because he says he likes King Charles.
Canada is a sovereign, independent, and free nation. Our border and our democracy do not exist at the whim of the predator in the White House.
Anyone who thinks that our nation’s borders will be respected because the gangster in Washington happens to like the king fails to recognize the nature of the threat before us. This is a president who says the only constraint on his actions is not Congress, not the courts, not international law, but quote “my own morality, my own mind.” There is no morality in a man accused of raping children and no morality in a political system that would give such unprecedented power to this criminal.
The issue for Canada is that we share a 9,000 kilometer undefended border with a nation that is no longer under the rule of law. Trump’s threat to NATO is not just a threat to Ukraine and Greenland. It is a threat to us because it is about isolating us. Donald Trump has never wavered in his attack on our nation or lessened the insults against our leaders and institutions.
We are now like Finland and the Baltic states on the border of a menacing threat. But they have taken an all-of-society approach to resistance. Canada needs one as well. For the past year, I’ve traveled this country, meeting people and listening to their views on how to protect Canada’s sovereignty and independence. Canadians are united like never before. They’re willing to do their part, and they’re fiercely determined to protect our democracy and our values.
It’s been reported that the government has set up plans for a 300,000-person volunteer citizens’ force, but so far nothing’s been said publicly. Why? I met many people willing to sign up. This is not about marching with bayonets in Belleville, but building local teams of resilience to help out in whatever kind of emergency we face. Is it about sending a message to the world that Canada’s sovereignty is not up for discussion?
This morning, I’m going to bring forward some suggestions based on what people have been talking to me about from one end of the country to the other—people who asked the question, “Well, what can I do? How do I make a difference?”
In 1940, when the Nazis invaded Denmark, 17-year-old youth named Arne Sejr wrote what he called the Ten Commandments of Resistance. Those commandments were passed from family to family, citizen to citizen, and the Danish people maintained a remarkable level of solidarity and saved almost the entire Jewish population. Now, we are nowhere near the level of threat faced by the Danish people, but given the deteriorating situation south of the border, we have a responsibility as citizens to be active participants at this moment in history.
So, I offer you 10 simple steps every Canadian should take to protect our democracy.
- I promise to do whatever I can to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy of Canada.
- I promise to respond to the best of my abilities to help in times of national disasters—floods, fires, or threats to our border.
- I promise to upgrade my skills to help my community and my country, whether in emergency preparedness, first aid, or other training.
- I promise to show up for my community and country by voting and participating in grassroots democratic actions, including resistance against anti-democratic threats.
- I promise to remain true to the values of inclusion, fairness, and respect for Indigenous rights, and I will do my best to ensure that no one is singled out because of their sex, gender, race, or religious background.
- I promise to boycott everything I can coming out of the United States and to support regional food sovereignty by buying local wherever possible.
- I promise to be an active blocker of disinformation and hate.
- I promise to be active locally, helping to create small groups of resisters and to recruit fence-sitters. Solidarity supports courage. We cannot do this alone.
- I promise to be a non-cooperator with tyranny. If my company or institution has contracts with tyrants or attempts to roll back rights, I will voice opposition, slow-walk the work, or refuse altogether. Our labor is power. We need to push the corporate, education, and political sectors to take a stand.
- I promise that if our territorial integrity is breached, either externally or internally, I will be an active disruptor. I will refuse to obey any orders from those who would undermine our sovereignty and will engage in mass acts of resistance and disobedience to frustrate invaders, demoralize fake authorities, and make it impossible for any undemocratic threat to govern us.
We can tell ourselves, “Don’t overreact.”
We can tell ourselves, “Well, the king likes us.”
We can hope that NATO will protect us.
We can tell ourselves, “The midterms are coming and everything’s going to return to normal.”
Or we can face the fact that the only thing that will save this beautiful and at times fragile democracy is ourselves—the Canadian people.
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Thank you very much. Thank you.
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