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A Canadian view of the best of the web!
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US Border Expands Facial Recognition for Canadians
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Canadian Border Now Fully Open
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Pre-Entry COVID Test No Longer Required at Canadian Border
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US Land Border Opens to Canadians
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When Will USA Border Open to Canadians?
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Where Can Vaccinated Canadians Travel?
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US Border Expands Facial Recognition for Canadians
Starting December 26th, Canadians travelling to the United States by air, land, or sea will no longer be able to opt out of having their photo taken at the border. The new rule, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, will make facial biometrics mandatory for all non-US citizens when entering or exiting the country. […]
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Canadian Border Now Fully Open
On October 1st 2022, the Government of Canada removed all COVID-19 border measures such as required proof of vaccination, random testing, and mandatory isolation for high-risk travelers. For the first time since early 2020, the Canadian border is operating under “normal” conditions. For example: Americans interested in visiting Canada no longer need to download the […]
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Pre-Entry COVID Test No Longer Required at Canadian Border
As of April 1st 2022, the Canadian border will no longer require a pre-arrival negative COVID-19 test from fully vaccinated travellers entering or returning to the country. Previously, a rapid antigen test or a PCR test indicating a person does not have COVID was required by border authorities. This rule change should encourage Canadians to […]
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US Land Border Opens to Canadians
After being closed for nearly 19 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on November 8th 2021 the United States land border officially opened to all fully vaccinated Canadians. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced they will be staffing their border at pre-pandemic levels, but warns that wait times may be longer than in […]
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When Will USA Border Open to Canadians?
On August 9th 2021, Canada opened its border to all fully vaccinated Americans allowing tourists from the United States to visit the country once again. The US border remains closed to Canadians, however, and American authorities recently extended the border closure until September 21st citing COVID-19 transmission rates south of the border as well as […]
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Where Can Vaccinated Canadians Travel?
Most Canadians are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Consequently, Canadians are starting to think about international travel again, and are beginning to research possible vacation destinations. This leads to the question, which countries can a fully vaccinated Canadian visit? As of July 2021, Canadian citizens who have received two doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, or […]
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Catching up with the American Fantasia. Plus today’s Commonwealth Games update
Posted August 1, 2026 by Anonymous
Here are a few cartoons I found about Trump’s crazy fantasies:Trump’s fantasy world is getting worse every day. It’s harder to keep up with all the fantasy stories that Trump seems to believe sincerely – everything from how he won the 2020 electio…
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Today’s News: Ragging the Canadian economy puck. Plus updates on wildfires and Commonwealth Games
Posted July 31, 2026 by Anonymous
So Prime Minister Carney kiboshed the suggestion Canada should retaliate with our oil and gas sales to America because we’re mad at Trump over his tariff threats. View on Threads
I’m seeing some carping about this from our media.
In The G…
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Outrage of the day: destroying old books. Plus updates on wildfires and the Commonwealth Games
Posted July 30, 2026 by Anonymous
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All over social media, I’m seeing people furiously angry about this.
““Project Panama is our effort to destructively scan all the books in the world,” an internal planning document said. “We don’t want it to be known that we …
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Today’s News: Poilievre evaporates while Trump circles the drain. Plus updates on wildfires and the Commonwealth Games
Posted July 29, 2026 by Anonymous
Am I wrong or has Poilievre evaporated?
I have seen little or nothing about him ever since his Lethbridge Liberace cos-play at the Stampede.
Maybe because he knows how is popularity is plummeting.There was a new Nanos poll out on Tuesday:
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Catching up with the news: Cartoon collection, the Gordie Howe Bridge as metaphor, plus wildfire updates, some World Cup news, and the Commonwealth Games
Posted July 28, 2026 by Anonymous
Cartoon CollectionThe Gordie Howe Bridge as metaphor
Last month, I speculated that the chaos of the Washington Reflecting Pool had become a metaphor for the incompetent hubris of the Trump administration. Now the Gordie Howe Bridge has become a metapho…
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Wildfires, the Commonwealth Games, and this week’s Sunday Funday
Posted July 26, 2026 by Anonymous
Today’s Wildfire Update
Lots of posts tonight about the fires in Spain and France
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The Tour de France Stage 21 in Paris has been shortened to 89 kilometers due to wildfires.
Canada’s fires update
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Today’s News about bridges and airports and Trump blathering again, plus updates on wildfires and on the Commonwealth Games
Posted July 25, 2026 by Anonymous
To finish off the week, here’s a collection of posts about the news.
I must admit, I’m tired, so very very tired, of writing about Trump and about Canada’s problems dealing with him.Can’t imagine how tired Carney must be!
I am really tired o…
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Are you kidding? This week’s news roundup of preposterous news – more tariffs, invading Iran, crashing the economy. Plus today’s wildfires update
Posted July 24, 2026 by Anonymous
More damned tariffs?So on Thursday this happened:
Trump’s Tariff Pivot: ‘Forced Labor’ Duties Hit 60 Nations as Global Levy Expires
The clock just ran out on Trump’s temporary 10% global tariff—but the White House isn’t dropping its trade shield. Taki…
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Thursday Survey: some good comments about the news stories of this week, plus today’s wildfire update
Posted July 23, 2026 by Anonymous
First, about those damned tariffs
but…. but…. I thought it was about the wind, and how it was carrying the smoke over the *gasp* border.
So, Chrystia Freeland told the little creep to f’off, did she? Of course he’d say what he said. Wimpy crimina…
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Today’s News: Canadians are 😠 about those tariffs. Plus a wildfires update
Posted July 22, 2026 by Anonymous
Canada is right royally pissed off.
There are dozens of good posts I could share, but here’s a few I liked – by the way, most are NSFW because that’s the way Canadians feel about Trump and his stupid tarrifs.
“Not a chance in hell…”
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I’m Canadian. As far as the new tariffs from the US cunt go, I don’t give a fuck. If you are a Canadian business and are still depending on US customers, get busy. Lot’s of choices now. If you are a US business being hurt by these tariffs, Fuck Off back to the US!
— Paul L. (@paul9876.bsky.social) July 20, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Paul Krugman says the tariffs show “how to lose friends and influence nothing”
… these latest actions confirm what most people around the world, from the European Commission to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, have already figured out: a deal with Donald Trump lasts only until he feels like breaking it.
The immediate economic impact of these tariffs will be limited. As far as I can tell, the highly integrated North American auto industry, which sprawls across both our northern and southern borders, won’t be directly affected. But the auto industry, like business in general, has been put on notice that the huge flows of goods and services that cross those borders every day may be cut off whenever Trump has a temper tantrum.
And this really is a temper tantrum, in the sense that there’s no strategy here. The new tariffs will hurt American consumers, and nobody expects them to extract any concessions from Canadians who are only getting more outraged at the United States.
Canada should be, and used to be, America’s greatest friend in the world. We share essential political and moral values with our northern neighbor. For the most part we even share a common language, eh? And Canadians viewed us very favorably until Trump began his tariffs and threats. Now we’re viewed less favorably than China…
In his substack on Tuesday, Dean Blundell suggests three reasons for the sudden tariff decision:
…So why now? Three reasons, and none of them are about dairy.
First, distraction. American service members are coming home in flag-draped coffins from Jordan and the Gulf…. It is a grinding, unwinnable mess of Trump’s own escalation, and nothing changes the channel like a good old-fashioned social brawl with Canada. We’re the shiny object. We’re the “look over there.”
Second, division. Ambassador Hoekstra spent this week dangling Alberta and Saskatchewan as America’s “preferred energy partners” — a transparent attempt to pit provinces against each other, to crack the coast-to-coast unity Carney described. It won’t work. If eighteen months of this has taught Trump anything, it should be that threatening Canada is the single greatest national unity project in our history. Alberta oil workers and Quebec dairy farmers and Ontario auto workers all know exactly who the problem is, and it isn’t each other.Third, it’s a warning shot. Canada has spent a year and a half doing the rational thing: diversifying. Twenty-plus new partnerships. New markets, new friends, new leverage of our own. That terrifies this administration, because their entire playbook depends on us having nowhere else to go. These tariffs are a message: stay in your lane, keep selling to us on our terms, and don’t you dare build a future that doesn’t run through Washington. To which the only appropriate Canadian response is: watch us.
Here’s what Trump and his people still don’t understand, because they’ve never understood anything about this country: the boycott was never a government program. It was never a Carney thing. It’s a Canada thing. Ordinary people turning bottles around in the liquor store to check the label. Grocery carts full of anything-but-American. Cancelled Florida vacations. Provinces pulling U.S. booze off shelves entirely. That was the response to the last round of tariffs and the “51st state” garbage. This round? Canadians are going to double down so hard that American exporters will be begging Congress to make it stop. Elbows up isn’t a slogan anymore. It’s muscle memory.Here’s the punchline, and you already know it: these tariffs don’t take effect for 30 days.
Thirty days. The standard Trump escalation window. The exact runway he always builds himself so he can strut, threaten, watch the markets gag, watch American consumers scream about prices, watch the lawsuits pile up — Section 338 is going to get shredded in court, just like the Supreme Court already shredded his emergency tariffs in February — and then “graciously” announce a pause, a deal, a framework, a beautiful letter from Mark. Trump Always Chickens Out…
In The Globe and Mail, Andrew Coyne just throws his hands up in the air and says “whatever!”
…[Carney] has tried making concessions before, [gift link] like eliminating the digital services tax, or the recent revisions to the Gordie Howe Bridge agreement. And he has tried taking a harder line, like the 25-per-cent retaliatory tariff he imposed on U.S. cars. The response from the Trump administration is always the same. More tariffs. More demands. No concessions.
The combination of approaches exposes Mark Carney to conflicting criticisms. When he’s tough he’s derided as confrontational. When he’s conciliatory he’s dismissed as weak. And when the Trump administration responds in the same belligerent way to either approach, he’s called a failure.
There’s a reason neither strategy has worked. It’s because nothing can. There is no appeasing Mr. Trump, and there is no deterring him. Appeasement and deterrence each depend on the same premise, that we are dealing with a rational actor on the other side: one with a predictable or at least understandable set of responses to any given action. But Mr. Trump does not behave according to any rational calculus.
It isn’t just that he has no understanding of policy, nor any knowledge of history to guide him; or that he conforms to none of the norms of custom, morality or law. It is that, even understood as a wholly self-involved, self-serving bundle of id, one whose only motive is self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment, Mr. Trump is incomprehensible. His actions make no sense even in terms of rational self-interest. It’s all just random impulses, fleeting grudges, synaptic burps, based on who spoke to him last, what he saw on TV or what he had for breakfast, for all I know.
But there’s an upside to all this. If there’s nothing we can do – if we lose no matter what – then we might as well do what we want. When nothing you can do will improve your fortunes, when the outcome is the same regardless of which option you choose, the stakes converge on zero.
The President will do what he will do. Nothing we can do will change that. So we might as well not try. There’s liberation in that.
Now Americans seem to be shocked SHOCKED! that Canada is fed up and doesn’t like them anymore
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I’m thinking Michigan officials will be upset at this decision, but at some point Americans will need to realize Canada isn’t going to give them individual hall passes anymore
Canada will celebrate the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge this week, the federal minister of infrastructure’s office said Tuesday — but there will not be a celebration with the United States.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/…
— JeffTrnka (@jefftrnka.bsky.social) July 21, 2026 at 6:28 PM
As for that 51st State stuff
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More on the tariffs
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And why does it take so damned long for all off us to start singing from the same hymnal?
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Today’s Wildfire Update
These leaders are right
First Nations Leaders in Northwestern Ontario are calling for an immediate public inquiry into the province’s emergency response and handling of the wildfires that have destroyed Collins First Nation and Whitewater First Nation over the course of a week.
www.aptnnews.ca?p=291878— APTN News (@aptnnews.bsky.social) July 21, 2026 at 5:16 PM
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Post to come later
Posted July 21, 2026 by Anonymous
Hi all — our power is out and my phone power is limited. So I may not be able to post until tomorrow. In the meantime
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Catching up with the news: Heroes of the Flames, FTFG, and World Cup stories
Posted July 21, 2026 by Anonymous
Canada wildland fire information system mapHeroes of the flamesSome courageous people.
Chance Paavola
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Here is a fascinating interview from the National Post with Chief Helen Paavola:
…Namaygoosisagagun …
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Sunday Funday: Some posts about the wildfires. Plus good posts, funny posts, getting old(er), Carney hat trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers and World Cup Stories
Posted July 19, 2026 by Anonymous
First, a few more posts about those wildfires:
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This is priceless!From Kier AtkinsonTweet of the day…… – Cole BennettRead on Substack
Feeling exactly the same way here.
Thanks for the reminder.[i…
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Round-up: just some political cartoons, plus some commentary about the week
Posted July 18, 2026 by Anonymous
Dali – Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)
Just some cartoons and comments on the week – and the Dali painting seemed appropriate…Canadian wildfires
The Toronto Star has an interactive wildfire map [gift link] showi…
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Today’s News: Canada battles terrible fires but we are keeping our Elbows Up! Trump speech is a Nothingburger. And some World Cup Stories
Posted July 17, 2026 by Anonymous
In Canadian news today, the wildfires are so terrible right now.
And we aren’t the only ones fighting this battle.
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Here in Saskatoon we don’t have smoke (yet) but lots of people east of us are in the soup right now.
Entire commu…
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Today’s News: Saying “no” to Poilievre and Trump. Plus World Cup Stories
Posted July 16, 2026 by Anonymous
A recent poll that showed Poilievre had narrowed the gap between him and Carney – now he’s only 6 points behind, instead of 9.The thing is, this isn’t going to stand up.
Not after Lethbridge Liberace and all the fallout this week.
And I don’t know how …
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Wednesday Wit: Clips and comments from our Bizarro World. Plus today’s World Cup stories
Posted July 15, 2026 by Anonymous
Anyone who read DC Comics in their youth will likely remember their “Bizarro World” issues.A useful concept, as it turns out — too many people seem to be living in Bizarro World now, where up is down, monsters are electable, “socialists” are ene…
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Catching up with the news about Carney and bridges and reports and Ukraine and Trump. Plus World Cup Stories and other sports
Posted July 14, 2026 by Anonymous
Hey, lots of news since Saturday!
Gordie Howe Bridge update
CTV reports:
Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending the deal brokered between Canada and the United States to open the delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge and insists the profits sp…
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Sunday Funday: I’m Forswunk! So here are some good posts & funny posts, plus What an Asshole, Carney Hat Trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers, World Cup stories
Posted July 12, 2026 by Anonymous
Cartoon by Mick O’Hara
Anyone else forswunk?
[exhausted from work, heat, lack of sleep, etc.]
It’s a gorgeous word from the 1300s, to which I have added my own riff with ‘foreswunk’: exhausted before you even begin. – Susie DentRead on Substack
I th…
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Wrapping up the week: Canada v Poilievre, Canada v USA, ICE Gestapo v USA, Spain v Trump, plus World Cup Stories and shout out to Gaby Dabrowski
Posted July 11, 2026 by Anonymous
Canada v Poilievre: laugh of the week
That white satin cowboy suit seemed to be the final blow to his credibility with Canadian media.
Robert Fife on the latest round of Conservative infighting: “This party is falling apart before our very eyes.”[imag…
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Today’s News: Carney, Trudeau, Poilievre, Trump and Count Binface. Plus World Cup Stories
Posted July 10, 2026 by Anonymous
I have often said that I feel smarter every time I listen to Carney explain something important. I don’t agree with every position he takes, but its clear that he is thoughtful and purposeful, not knee-jerk and emotional.
Some examples from his Saudi Arabia trip:
“Lecturing countries from afar is satisfying but ineffective.”
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“This isn’t just Flavour of the Month”
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“We are calibrating engagement”
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I’m reading some pointless carping about Carney visiting “Prince Bonesaw” in Saudi Arabia because I guess this is still a thing.
Paul Wells has a more useful comment about the Saudi Arabia trip. He concludes:
…What’s bracing, if not unnerving, about asking the world to take a bet on Canada is that ultimately it will be the world’s decision. Sooner or later everyone visits Jeddah, even a Canadian prime minister. They all make a pitch. Carney’s visit generated a lot of interest this week in Jeddah. Soon we will see how many zeros come at the end of that.
Also, I enjoy Carney’s sense of humour:
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On a side note, can you imagine how weak and divided Canada would be now if Poilievre had won in 2025?
This is the kind of poor judgement he shows when he has a national stage:
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Thursday: Just some good news and a few funny posts, plus World Cup Stories
Posted July 9, 2026 by Anonymous
Busy day today so a shorter blog piece tonight!First, some good news and funny posts about Canada and Carney
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Here’s how you hold an impromptu press conference.
youtu.be/IMiPkgUoxDQ?…[image or embed]— anita72.bsky.social (@a…
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Wednesday Wit: some good comments about Poilievre and Trump and Carney and US-Canada relations and living your dreams, plus World Cup Stories
Posted July 8, 2026 by Anonymous
So Poilievre went to Calgary and it didn’t go very well:
The Canadian media is constantly, desperately trying to prop Poilievre up at this serious policy thinker but fortunately he regularly intervenes to make clear that he’ll never surpass his true F…
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Today’s News: World Cup stories – Everything Trump Touches Dies. Plus, Carney get Subs, and checking in on Canada’s far-right
Posted July 7, 2026 by Anonymous
The world is laughing at Trump
And at FIFAWorld Cup Stories – #ETTD Everything Trump Touches Dies
Incredible to watch Monday’s US v Belgium game and realize Trump has done it again
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In The Globe and Mail…
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Canada ends its World Cup journey. Plus Sunday Funday posts, Getting Old(er), Animal Crackers
Posted July 5, 2026 by Anonymous
Our World Cup journey is over[image or embed]— Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 (@jmcelroy.bsky.social) July 4, 2026 at 1:02 PM
The boys did good
Canada’s World Cup Journey Ends in Houston. What a Ride It Has Been. 🍁
By Annie Koshy
A 0-3 defeat to Morocco today in…
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Full Story »
US Border Expands Facial Recognition for Canadians
Posted November 12, 2025 by Ben
Starting December 26th, Canadians travelling to the United States by air, land, or sea will no longer be able to opt out of having their photo taken at the border. The new rule, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, will make facial biometrics mandatory for all non-US citizens when entering or exiting the country. […]
General
Full Story »
Canadian Border Now Fully Open
Posted November 24, 2022 by Ben
On October 1st 2022, the Government of Canada removed all COVID-19 border measures such as required proof of vaccination, random testing, and mandatory isolation for high-risk travelers. For the first time since early 2020, the Canadian border is operating under “normal” conditions. For example: Americans interested in visiting Canada no longer need to download the […]
General
Full Story »
Pre-Entry COVID Test No Longer Required at Canadian Border
Posted April 2, 2022 by Ben
As of April 1st 2022, the Canadian border will no longer require a pre-arrival negative COVID-19 test from fully vaccinated travellers entering or returning to the country. Previously, a rapid antigen test or a PCR test indicating a person does not have COVID was required by border authorities. This rule change should encourage Canadians to […]
General
Full Story »
US Land Border Opens to Canadians
Posted November 8, 2021 by Ben
After being closed for nearly 19 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on November 8th 2021 the United States land border officially opened to all fully vaccinated Canadians. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced they will be staffing their border at pre-pandemic levels, but warns that wait times may be longer than in […]
General
Full Story »
When Will USA Border Open to Canadians?
Posted August 25, 2021 by Ben
On August 9th 2021, Canada opened its border to all fully vaccinated Americans allowing tourists from the United States to visit the country once again. The US border remains closed to Canadians, however, and American authorities recently extended the border closure until September 21st citing COVID-19 transmission rates south of the border as well as […]
General
Full Story »
Where Can Vaccinated Canadians Travel?
Posted July 1, 2021 by Ben
Most Canadians are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Consequently, Canadians are starting to think about international travel again, and are beginning to research possible vacation destinations. This leads to the question, which countries can a fully vaccinated Canadian visit? As of July 2021, Canadian citizens who have received two doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, or […]
Interesting Fact of the Month
Did you know visiting Canada with a DUI is difficult? If a US citizen has a DUI or DWI they could be denied entry at the Canadian border! Even a misdemeanor for reckless driving, or a traffic ticket for impaired driving, can prevent an American from entering Canada. In order to enter Canada with DUI charges many people hire an immigration lawyer. Going to Canada from USA with other criminal convictions like theft or assault can also be challenging.
Did you know visiting Canada with a DUI is difficult? If a US citizen has a DUI or DWI they could be denied entry at the Canadian border! Even a misdemeanor for reckless driving, or a traffic ticket for impaired driving, can prevent an American from entering Canada. In order to enter Canada with DUI charges many people hire an immigration lawyer. Going to Canada from USA with other criminal convictions like theft or assault can also be challenging.
