this is absurd, but the old tory canadian apparatchiks should not write this off as nonsense. the intent is to take canada down a notch because the trudeau government was vocally and aggressively pushing itself as america's bestie, and it was actually starting to piss them off. the trudeau administration appears to have ignored years of subtle hints to tone it down. worse, the canadian government has adopted an extremely anti-russian policy position since 2015, which is a direct move away from the non-alignment that canada tried to hold through the 60s-00s. an aggressive, pro-war, anti-russian government in ottawa is a major liability to washington. the truth is that it's a major liability to canadians, too. i don't want to die in estonia, fighting a war i don't give the slightest fuck about.
trudeau was not his father, he was an intellectual lightweight and shallow thinker brainwashed by the hollywood propaganda he grew up on, into seeing the american-led west as being in an existential struggle with the commies that doesn't end until william shatner (a canadian) becomes dictator of the united nations. canada's foreign policy has become delusional and in the interests of nobody in the country or on the continent at all.
this isn't the ideal way to direct a policy shift in canada, but we need to change course. they're basically right. the cold war ended decades ago. it's time to let go of the blockbuster film 70s and 80s hollywood propaganda and we certainly shouldn't be driven by 40 year old propaganda when the propagandist has justifiably shifted direction and changed course in an overdue reaction to actual reality, which is that russia is a democracy with a difficult spectrum.
in the west, our parties are all about the same and nothing really changes after the election. in russia, there are legit fascists and legit stalinists running every single election, and the system has to navigate that harsh reality. putin represents a grand coalition of the liberals and conservatives and has held power for so long because he can keep the stalinists out. there is a social democratic party, but it's outside of the grand coalition and would end up in 3rd or 4th in open elections.
in order for a multiparty system like exists in the west to develop n russia, russia needs to address the lingering threat of a return to stalinism, which remains serious and real. the stalinists remain the only other competitive political force in russia and the only viable alternative to putin and his grand coalition.
reliving rambo over and over again is not what canadians or washington needs or wants from the pmo.