". . . For instance, a prominent account called “MAGA NATION” (with 392,000+ followers) turned out to be posting from Eastern Europe, not America. Other examples include “Dark MAGA” (15,000 followers, based in Thailand), “MAGA Scope” (51,000 followers, based in Nigeria), and an “America First” account (67,000 followers) run from Bangladesh. Other large political, crypto, and even public health influencer accounts claiming U.S. roots — many of which are also MAGA-aligned — are similarly being outed with locations traced to countries like India, Nigeria, and elsewhere. In each case, an account that gave every impression of being an American political participant — complaining about gas prices or vaccine mandates, cheering or mocking candidates, reacting to debates, and posting memes about things like the border or inflation — was run by someone who isn’t even in America." See: https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/x-just-accidentally-exposed-a-vast
Thank-you for your work Terry. As a reader, who can one trust/believe? For example, Conservatives seem to prefer the National Post. Liberals seem to prefer The Globe and Mail. If a paper publishes a story contrary to a particular perspective it’s, well that paper is biased and not to be believed. The NP is an American Paper. Whatever…. We have an opposition leader that attacks any legacy media that asks a question he doesn’t like. I don’t know. 🤷♂️ Perhaps it is simply that civility has gone out the window. It takes courage to do what you do. I am grateful to the brave journalists who put themselves at risk to ask questions others are afraid to ask. The fourth estate is a pillar of democracy. As citizens we need to wake up and get back to supporting our papers and not Google, FaceBook etc…. People are addicted to those platforms. I wish there was a treatment. I am one of the few (I guess) who stayed away from them. That is a big challenge given it seems to be how we communicate now.
The disappearance of the free press in Canada is the undoing of a nation. When no one is there to push back on unscrupulous governments, democracy is the next domino to fall.
I prefer the old days of Ann Medina, objective journalism, and paper newspapers, but they’re gone for good. Throwing money at legacy media only hastened its demise. Will Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelley, Matt Gurney podcasts morph into trusted replacements? Who knows? But we seem to be more informed, but more poorly informed, than we were in the days of people we trusted, like Knowlton Nash and Barbra Frum. Great column
Brian, I think it can be argued that faith in our foundational institutions is now at an all-time low. I'm left to ponder the possibilities. Have the fairness and integrity of those organizations declined so rapidly or was I previously living in a fool's paradise. It certainly requires more critical thinking now to wade through the volume of disparate opinions from independent media. It is a far cry from the Ann Medina era where, despite the objective professionalism, the narratives emanated from a much smaller circle of journalists. I am as yet undecided which model best serves the reading public.
. . . For instance, a prominent account called “MAGA NATION” (with 392,000+ followers) turned out to be posting from Eastern Europe, not America. Other examples include “Dark MAGA” (15,000 followers, based in Thailand), “MAGA Scope” (51,000 followers, based in Nigeria), and an “America First” account (67,000 followers) run from Bangladesh. Other large political, crypto, and even public health influencer accounts claiming U.S. roots — many of which are also MAGA-aligned — are similarly being outed with locations traced to countries like India, Nigeria, and elsewhere. In each case, an account that gave every impression of being an American political participant — complaining about gas prices or vaccine mandates, cheering or mocking candidates, reacting to debates, and posting memes about things like the border or inflation — was run by someone who isn’t even in America." See: https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/x-just-accidentally-exposed-a-vast
“… cultural subset … that tends to be wholly disconnected with the concerns and the values of ordinary, “normal” Canadians…”
That’s what many mainstream Canadians see and feel very deeply, it’s what erodes trust, IMO. I was reading about Samuel Huntington, (Clash of Civilisations) and thinking about the fact that more people in Canada are in the radical subset of society than are in the mainstream. It’s dystopian and ghoulish. Where does this come from? Are we the proverbial slowly boiling frog?
“The way I’ve tried to put it is that it’s not just that truth doesn’t seem to matter anymore, it’s that it doesn’t seem to matter that the truth doesn’t matter anymore.” You hit the nail on the head here Terry.
Loyalty to a particular tribe has now superseded loyalty to a pursuit of the truth. If you carry your beliefs with a religious fervour, the end justifies any means.
Well they are the only two countries defending their sovereignty and standing up to those that wish to see the fall of our Western civilization. 🇨🇦 🇮🇱 🇺🇦 🚀🚀🚀
When I grow up I want to be like Christy Blatchford , RIP. And you, Terry, are a crusty old dude I’d sure like to have lunch with one day. It wouldn’t matter what or where we eat. Your words are palatable and feed my soul. And I might bring dessert. Something sweet. I think you need it.
Love you for that. I'd have you over for lunch but you'd need a fourwheel drive and sufficient stamina to make it through my checkpoints and brigades of loyal security guards.
I didn't take notes because I wasn't there as a working journalist, and the mere presence of a notebook would have been enough to put some people on their guard. I have a very, very dim view of much of the commentary and the low-information questions that were put to me. I hate to say that kind of thing because it makes me sound arrogant. But there remains an overwhelming assumption that the way to deal with this strange new world is to "regulate the internet," which strikes me as both naive and oblivious to the dismal record of Canada's attempts to do that so far. What would be useful is an EU-led alliance of liberal democracies with a shared strategy - exposing bot farms, properly identifying disinformation produced by hostile state actors. . . and as for the X's and Meta's, somehow taxing the bastards. Some remedies are plainly obvious but unachievable, like suspending accounts from any anonymous users, and properly verifying user identities. Probably not going to happen.
A statement of truth may come across as arrogance to those who prefer not to have it discussed. The listless engagement you describe makes me wonder whether this was a CPD event for the legal profession and they were there to get a box ticked for annual license renewal credits.
I believe you're right, with Canada's continuing attempts to regulate the internet. I also think that the goal will be to use AI in order to achieve it, one of the reasons for the creation of the ministry for former journalist and Eurasia Group employee Evan Soloman. The Eurasia Group is an entity that seems to have a lot of clout with our ruling class but continues to remain deep in the shadows, but I digress.
The question that people should be asking, in my opinion, if regulation of the internet is the end goal, who gets to decide what is, and is not correct. You've identified the issues with AI and how unreliable it can be, it's simply a matter of the information that is used to train it. Even in the early days of my computer science education (late 70's time frame), the term "garbage-in, garbage-out" was popular. If the Liberals or worse, some bloated bureaucratic agency, are going to assume that mantle, then we are well and truly toast.
The only thing that surprises me in this piece is that somehow 39% of Canadians still trust the MSM.
I understand the danger of foreign interference, I’m far more worried about our own governments trying to control the flow of information because they ARE the largest source of mis/dis/malinformation, in canada, the USA, Europe.
There is an acceptable narrative and all of them adhere to it, and it gets worse as media becomes more dependent on tax $$$.
I will continue to support this site even though I think you have your blind spots like anyone else ( the nonexistent climate emergency).
Anyway, I’m still floating from the Riders righteous win last Sunday. I need my circus too!!
I'm also surprised trust in MSM is that high. USA is only 28% and their media doesn't survive on government welfare cheques. I would have guess trust in MSM in Canada would be more like 18% - 20%.
Excellent column. Canada as a "post-National" state has given way to mendacious ideologies which profit their purveyors while bombarding the digital reader with entertaining distractions. Lost within the cacophony of mind numbing fluff and calculated deceptions, our leaders slowly but inexorably inculcate us into a state of learned helpless wherein we find ourselves casting our vote for who we "hope" to trust among all too frequent untrustworthy options. But you good sir, you steady us by connecting the dots while inadvertently advancing the well earned skepticism we bemoan. Still, keep us thinking sir Glavin, and never surrender, never surrender.
No, we are not a nation of dolts. No more than the Americans are, anyway.
Most normal people exhibit normal reactions to noise. The louder the noise, the more people react. It's true that Canadians (like their politicians) remain pretty ignorant about the threat from China, but Canadians are not unaware that a vulgar dolt of an American president has decided to disassemble the North American economy and has also expressed the opinion that the US should use "economic force" to strongarm Canada into folding itself into a 51st American state. That's not nothing.
The thing about Trump is that he isn't a wizard, although millions of people across the political spectrum seem to believe he is. He can't just wave a wand and make things happen. Flawed as it is (particularly as it appears at the moment), the US system has effective checks and balances designed specifically to prevent a Trump from doing everything he wants to do.
Not to mention he's a morbidly obese 79yo with increasingly telling signs of dementia. I'll honestly be surprised if he outlives his second term.
Trump's antics aren't what keeps me awake at night. Our own dumpster fire does that.
I contend we are a nation of dolts not because we exhibit normal reactions to noise, but because we are so very easily manipulated. The "wag the dog" effect of Trump during out last federal election wasn't Trump's doing; it was the liberal party's. Trump was being his usual blustering, ill-fitting suit full o' vulgar puffery and impotent sabre-rattling and the libs ran with it all the way to a fourth mandate. They (and their masters in both Beijing and Wall Street) - not Trump - are more of a threat to our existence than The Donald could ever hope to be. Millions of Canadians bought into a scheme designed very specifically to make us ignore a decade of catastrophic governance. All part of our paternalism-embracing, self-loathing national persona. The uncritical blind faith millions instantly put in our secretive new celebrity banker gadabout PM is, frankly, inexplicable.
Oh, and we elected Justin Trudeau's cadre of incompetent crooks and liars through three scandal-tainted elections. Who but dolts would do such a thing?!
Would "rubes" be better? "Dunces"? "Dullards"? "Lackwits"? "Suckers"? I'm trying to be diplomatic here.
Note to self: use the term "puffery" more often.
Edit: and to be clear, I'm not saying the US isn't also a nation of dolts. Ever been to a "Golden Corral"?? And chain buffets aside there's the issue of Donald Trump being elected POTUS not once but twice!
If it came right down to it, and it might, I think I would rather be a 51st American state than the 22nd province of China - communist China. Unless he declares himself "leader for life" I refuse to get bent out of shape about the present leader of the US, of which I have no control, who could loose the midterms in one short year.
We are on track to welcome another 1 million new immigrants in 2025, while our indebtedness has now climbed to over $1 trillion. Those calamitous developments pass with hardly a murmur as MSM focuses daily on the threat posed by Donald Trump. The Canadian public has almost an unlimited capacity to be distracted and manipulated.
Walking and chewing gum at the same time: Mass immigration is not a distraction from Trumpist vandalism, and Trump is not a distraction from the ill effects of mass immigration. These are desparate times, but no fit-for-purpose policy is on offer from Carney's Liberals.
An aside to this; I notice that those who bray the loudest about "decolonization" are also the ones voting for governments that continue our unchecked and mismanaged immigration system and decry its critics are racists and xenophobes (and sometimes even nazis, because, hey, why not?!). They can't see the colonization happening right under their noses. Maybe their Amazon keffiyehs are obscuring the view.
Yeah. We're paying slightly more than a billion dollars a WEEK in interest payments to US-based bond markets. And once Carney's done (HA!) borrowing it'll be far more than that. One doesn't need to fully comprehend what a billion dollars looks like. One merely needs to understand that handing that amount over every week ensures we will never get on top of our debt. That's a heck of a way to wage (a trade) war on someone!
We're a stupid people. I often think we deserve to suffer.
Great post, Terry. But now I’m even more worried about Western democracy and whether we’ll ever close some of the gap between the Left and the Right. I guess I’ll just carry on carrying on.
The gap between the "left" and the "right" has never been narrower. "Canada is a useless woke nanny state and Alberta should separate" is functionally identical to "Canada is an irredeemably racist colonial settler state and we should give the land back to Turtle Islanders."
UPDATE:
". . . For instance, a prominent account called “MAGA NATION” (with 392,000+ followers) turned out to be posting from Eastern Europe, not America. Other examples include “Dark MAGA” (15,000 followers, based in Thailand), “MAGA Scope” (51,000 followers, based in Nigeria), and an “America First” account (67,000 followers) run from Bangladesh. Other large political, crypto, and even public health influencer accounts claiming U.S. roots — many of which are also MAGA-aligned — are similarly being outed with locations traced to countries like India, Nigeria, and elsewhere. In each case, an account that gave every impression of being an American political participant — complaining about gas prices or vaccine mandates, cheering or mocking candidates, reacting to debates, and posting memes about things like the border or inflation — was run by someone who isn’t even in America." See: https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/x-just-accidentally-exposed-a-vast
Thank-you for your work Terry. As a reader, who can one trust/believe? For example, Conservatives seem to prefer the National Post. Liberals seem to prefer The Globe and Mail. If a paper publishes a story contrary to a particular perspective it’s, well that paper is biased and not to be believed. The NP is an American Paper. Whatever…. We have an opposition leader that attacks any legacy media that asks a question he doesn’t like. I don’t know. 🤷♂️ Perhaps it is simply that civility has gone out the window. It takes courage to do what you do. I am grateful to the brave journalists who put themselves at risk to ask questions others are afraid to ask. The fourth estate is a pillar of democracy. As citizens we need to wake up and get back to supporting our papers and not Google, FaceBook etc…. People are addicted to those platforms. I wish there was a treatment. I am one of the few (I guess) who stayed away from them. That is a big challenge given it seems to be how we communicate now.
The disappearance of the free press in Canada is the undoing of a nation. When no one is there to push back on unscrupulous governments, democracy is the next domino to fall.
Plural n'est pas? Nations
Any nation without a free press is losing its democracy.
I prefer the old days of Ann Medina, objective journalism, and paper newspapers, but they’re gone for good. Throwing money at legacy media only hastened its demise. Will Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelley, Matt Gurney podcasts morph into trusted replacements? Who knows? But we seem to be more informed, but more poorly informed, than we were in the days of people we trusted, like Knowlton Nash and Barbra Frum. Great column
"... more informed, but more poorly informed" Good way to express it, Brian.
Brian, I think it can be argued that faith in our foundational institutions is now at an all-time low. I'm left to ponder the possibilities. Have the fairness and integrity of those organizations declined so rapidly or was I previously living in a fool's paradise. It certainly requires more critical thinking now to wade through the volume of disparate opinions from independent media. It is a far cry from the Ann Medina era where, despite the objective professionalism, the narratives emanated from a much smaller circle of journalists. I am as yet undecided which model best serves the reading public.
UPDATE:
. . . For instance, a prominent account called “MAGA NATION” (with 392,000+ followers) turned out to be posting from Eastern Europe, not America. Other examples include “Dark MAGA” (15,000 followers, based in Thailand), “MAGA Scope” (51,000 followers, based in Nigeria), and an “America First” account (67,000 followers) run from Bangladesh. Other large political, crypto, and even public health influencer accounts claiming U.S. roots — many of which are also MAGA-aligned — are similarly being outed with locations traced to countries like India, Nigeria, and elsewhere. In each case, an account that gave every impression of being an American political participant — complaining about gas prices or vaccine mandates, cheering or mocking candidates, reacting to debates, and posting memes about things like the border or inflation — was run by someone who isn’t even in America." See: https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/x-just-accidentally-exposed-a-vast
Sad to read but thanks Terry for being the only writer I know to present this information about the news media. Je me souviens.
“… cultural subset … that tends to be wholly disconnected with the concerns and the values of ordinary, “normal” Canadians…”
That’s what many mainstream Canadians see and feel very deeply, it’s what erodes trust, IMO. I was reading about Samuel Huntington, (Clash of Civilisations) and thinking about the fact that more people in Canada are in the radical subset of society than are in the mainstream. It’s dystopian and ghoulish. Where does this come from? Are we the proverbial slowly boiling frog?
You’ve given us plenty to think about here.
“The way I’ve tried to put it is that it’s not just that truth doesn’t seem to matter anymore, it’s that it doesn’t seem to matter that the truth doesn’t matter anymore.” You hit the nail on the head here Terry.
Great article.
Loyalty to a particular tribe has now superseded loyalty to a pursuit of the truth. If you carry your beliefs with a religious fervour, the end justifies any means.
WHY defend Ukraine and Israel?
Well they are the only two countries defending their sovereignty and standing up to those that wish to see the fall of our Western civilization. 🇨🇦 🇮🇱 🇺🇦 🚀🚀🚀
When I grow up I want to be like Christy Blatchford , RIP. And you, Terry, are a crusty old dude I’d sure like to have lunch with one day. It wouldn’t matter what or where we eat. Your words are palatable and feed my soul. And I might bring dessert. Something sweet. I think you need it.
Love you for that. I'd have you over for lunch but you'd need a fourwheel drive and sufficient stamina to make it through my checkpoints and brigades of loyal security guards.
Stealth and silence are my strengths. Just need your coordinates.
Oh, you are so right on Christie Blatchford. She is very missed . She did not tolerate the bull sh*t.
Great post, how about a group lunch for all fans of Christy snd Terry?
"It’s the epistemology, stupid". Yes, yes, yes. What we know today we didn't know yesterday and what we will know tomorrow, we didn't know today.
I'm curious how Terry's presentations were received by those paragons of impartiality and champions of blind justicee who attended. Belief? Denial?
I didn't take notes because I wasn't there as a working journalist, and the mere presence of a notebook would have been enough to put some people on their guard. I have a very, very dim view of much of the commentary and the low-information questions that were put to me. I hate to say that kind of thing because it makes me sound arrogant. But there remains an overwhelming assumption that the way to deal with this strange new world is to "regulate the internet," which strikes me as both naive and oblivious to the dismal record of Canada's attempts to do that so far. What would be useful is an EU-led alliance of liberal democracies with a shared strategy - exposing bot farms, properly identifying disinformation produced by hostile state actors. . . and as for the X's and Meta's, somehow taxing the bastards. Some remedies are plainly obvious but unachievable, like suspending accounts from any anonymous users, and properly verifying user identities. Probably not going to happen.
A statement of truth may come across as arrogance to those who prefer not to have it discussed. The listless engagement you describe makes me wonder whether this was a CPD event for the legal profession and they were there to get a box ticked for annual license renewal credits.
I believe you're right, with Canada's continuing attempts to regulate the internet. I also think that the goal will be to use AI in order to achieve it, one of the reasons for the creation of the ministry for former journalist and Eurasia Group employee Evan Soloman. The Eurasia Group is an entity that seems to have a lot of clout with our ruling class but continues to remain deep in the shadows, but I digress.
The question that people should be asking, in my opinion, if regulation of the internet is the end goal, who gets to decide what is, and is not correct. You've identified the issues with AI and how unreliable it can be, it's simply a matter of the information that is used to train it. Even in the early days of my computer science education (late 70's time frame), the term "garbage-in, garbage-out" was popular. If the Liberals or worse, some bloated bureaucratic agency, are going to assume that mantle, then we are well and truly toast.
The only thing that surprises me in this piece is that somehow 39% of Canadians still trust the MSM.
I understand the danger of foreign interference, I’m far more worried about our own governments trying to control the flow of information because they ARE the largest source of mis/dis/malinformation, in canada, the USA, Europe.
There is an acceptable narrative and all of them adhere to it, and it gets worse as media becomes more dependent on tax $$$.
I will continue to support this site even though I think you have your blind spots like anyone else ( the nonexistent climate emergency).
Anyway, I’m still floating from the Riders righteous win last Sunday. I need my circus too!!
GO RIDERS! NB I think you missed the main point. The MSM is no longer what you think it is.
No, I understand..
The msm is now stenographers
Narrative control
I'm also surprised trust in MSM is that high. USA is only 28% and their media doesn't survive on government welfare cheques. I would have guess trust in MSM in Canada would be more like 18% - 20%.
What is the MSM? It isn't legacy media anymore. This newsletter set out to describe the new MSM.
Could easily be a push poll.
“Do you believe Putin or the MSM more”?
For me that would be a tough one to decide unless I could ask a few more questions such as which MSM journalist.
Excellent column. Canada as a "post-National" state has given way to mendacious ideologies which profit their purveyors while bombarding the digital reader with entertaining distractions. Lost within the cacophony of mind numbing fluff and calculated deceptions, our leaders slowly but inexorably inculcate us into a state of learned helpless wherein we find ourselves casting our vote for who we "hope" to trust among all too frequent untrustworthy options. But you good sir, you steady us by connecting the dots while inadvertently advancing the well earned skepticism we bemoan. Still, keep us thinking sir Glavin, and never surrender, never surrender.
China and A.I. are scary:
“The First Large-Scale Cyberattack by AI”
With basic tech and little human oversight, Chinese spies apparently exploited Anthropic’s Claude Code.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-first-large-scale-cyberattack-by-ai-4a1e1a30
Here’s a free reference:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/14/ai-anthropic-chinese-state-sponsored-cyber-attack
Saw that. I'm overwhelmed, just trying to keep up with the multi-front war China is waging on the west.
I'm sincerely shocked that so many Canadians view the US as an enemy or threat.
We truly are an unserious nation of dolts.
No, we are not a nation of dolts. No more than the Americans are, anyway.
Most normal people exhibit normal reactions to noise. The louder the noise, the more people react. It's true that Canadians (like their politicians) remain pretty ignorant about the threat from China, but Canadians are not unaware that a vulgar dolt of an American president has decided to disassemble the North American economy and has also expressed the opinion that the US should use "economic force" to strongarm Canada into folding itself into a 51st American state. That's not nothing.
Not to mention that the aforementioned Vulgarian-in-Chief has alienated America’s allies and sent them into Beijing’s arms.
The thing about Trump is that he isn't a wizard, although millions of people across the political spectrum seem to believe he is. He can't just wave a wand and make things happen. Flawed as it is (particularly as it appears at the moment), the US system has effective checks and balances designed specifically to prevent a Trump from doing everything he wants to do.
Not to mention he's a morbidly obese 79yo with increasingly telling signs of dementia. I'll honestly be surprised if he outlives his second term.
Trump's antics aren't what keeps me awake at night. Our own dumpster fire does that.
I contend we are a nation of dolts not because we exhibit normal reactions to noise, but because we are so very easily manipulated. The "wag the dog" effect of Trump during out last federal election wasn't Trump's doing; it was the liberal party's. Trump was being his usual blustering, ill-fitting suit full o' vulgar puffery and impotent sabre-rattling and the libs ran with it all the way to a fourth mandate. They (and their masters in both Beijing and Wall Street) - not Trump - are more of a threat to our existence than The Donald could ever hope to be. Millions of Canadians bought into a scheme designed very specifically to make us ignore a decade of catastrophic governance. All part of our paternalism-embracing, self-loathing national persona. The uncritical blind faith millions instantly put in our secretive new celebrity banker gadabout PM is, frankly, inexplicable.
Oh, and we elected Justin Trudeau's cadre of incompetent crooks and liars through three scandal-tainted elections. Who but dolts would do such a thing?!
Would "rubes" be better? "Dunces"? "Dullards"? "Lackwits"? "Suckers"? I'm trying to be diplomatic here.
Note to self: use the term "puffery" more often.
Edit: and to be clear, I'm not saying the US isn't also a nation of dolts. Ever been to a "Golden Corral"?? And chain buffets aside there's the issue of Donald Trump being elected POTUS not once but twice!
If it came right down to it, and it might, I think I would rather be a 51st American state than the 22nd province of China - communist China. Unless he declares himself "leader for life" I refuse to get bent out of shape about the present leader of the US, of which I have no control, who could loose the midterms in one short year.
We are on track to welcome another 1 million new immigrants in 2025, while our indebtedness has now climbed to over $1 trillion. Those calamitous developments pass with hardly a murmur as MSM focuses daily on the threat posed by Donald Trump. The Canadian public has almost an unlimited capacity to be distracted and manipulated.
Walking and chewing gum at the same time: Mass immigration is not a distraction from Trumpist vandalism, and Trump is not a distraction from the ill effects of mass immigration. These are desparate times, but no fit-for-purpose policy is on offer from Carney's Liberals.
An aside to this; I notice that those who bray the loudest about "decolonization" are also the ones voting for governments that continue our unchecked and mismanaged immigration system and decry its critics are racists and xenophobes (and sometimes even nazis, because, hey, why not?!). They can't see the colonization happening right under their noses. Maybe their Amazon keffiyehs are obscuring the view.
--signed Gabbo, a first-generation Canadian
Indeed.
Yeah. We're paying slightly more than a billion dollars a WEEK in interest payments to US-based bond markets. And once Carney's done (HA!) borrowing it'll be far more than that. One doesn't need to fully comprehend what a billion dollars looks like. One merely needs to understand that handing that amount over every week ensures we will never get on top of our debt. That's a heck of a way to wage (a trade) war on someone!
We're a stupid people. I often think we deserve to suffer.
We ask to be beaten, and then get pissed when Trump obliges.
Great post, Terry. But now I’m even more worried about Western democracy and whether we’ll ever close some of the gap between the Left and the Right. I guess I’ll just carry on carrying on.
The gap between the "left" and the "right" has never been narrower. "Canada is a useless woke nanny state and Alberta should separate" is functionally identical to "Canada is an irredeemably racist colonial settler state and we should give the land back to Turtle Islanders."
Whole heartedly agree. It’s not the distance between left and right. It’s that neither share the same fact base anymore.