I had a 24year career with Scotiabank, leaving in 1999. We were then under the leadership of two great individuals. I am totally embarrassed by the comments made by the current CEO. Totally inappropriate, disgusting, and extremely disheartening for a once great employer and institution! Mark
Throughout my entire life I have had the pleasure of visiting and touring around the United States; North, South, East and West, until recently when as a Canadian, I joined the U.S. Travel Boycott as soon as it began.
I have observed through the news media, both Canadian and American, Trump's deployment of the National Guard and I.C.E. Agents in cities and towns across the U.S. and have been gut-wrenchingly appalled by numerous cowardly and barbaric acts in the name of "National Security".
I can no longer justify any travel to the U.S. the basis of the fact that I myself may become victim to similar treatment as a visitor.
I recently completed a market research study questionnaire that was polling Canadian tourism to the U.S.
(I assume it was commissioned by American interests.)
I responded negatively to all questions inquiring as to when I would consider visiting the U.S.
The final open-ended question inquired as to what could be done to encourage Canadian tourism to the United States.
My response was succinct and explanatory.
Get Donald Trump out of the White House and get rid of the current Gangster Fascist administration.
I respectfully use the Charlie Angus vernacular for its brevity and truth.
I trust its sentiment speaks volumes for the collective consciousness of Meidas Canada.
I will become a dedicated supporter of Meidas Canada in short order.
Again, thanks for alm you do. I have not been able to figure out what the legitimate police are doing when these ICE mobs try to kidnap people. Should they not be there keeping ICE in line? Who is in control? Do the police of, say Minneapolis, have a rolw?
I'm jumping in headfirst with this one...Dear Charlie Angus,
We really are, as Bruce Cockburn wrote, “lovers in a dangerous time.” When people speak plainly and refuse to normalize intimidation, division, or historical amnesia, they kick at the darkness. And that matters.
My name is Brian McCarthy. I’m a retired teacher living in Calgary. I’m writing because your voice, and the voices of others at Midas Touch, have helped me clarify what I need to do next.
I want to share what I’m going to do, and why.
For years, I've been building free teaching and learning tools—CAP Notes, the WAY Game, and related resources, and putting them online. Mostly to the sound of crickets. Social media rewards outrage and speed, not reflection or learning. I’m finding Substack is the place to be.
Instead, I’m focusing on helping individuals—students, families, and teachers—develop tools for thinking, memory, and creativity, especially as many people face disruption and reinvention in the age of AI. To that end, I'm creating short YouTube videos; bike rides to share tools, words and nature.
This work is tied to a promise I made to my Grade 5 students when I retired: and that was to provide instructions for the WAY Game online, so others could play. After 33 years in the trenches, I’ve learned to be careful what you promise, but also to keep promises.
Recent events, and the rhetoric surrounding them, have pushed me to act more publicly and deliberately. Not with anger, but with what people may do to show support for Canada.
What I’m Doing
First,
A relative of mine, Gordon Pimm, wrote Leo’s War: From Vimy to Gaspé, a collection of letters from my great-uncle, Leo LeBoutillier, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his heroism at the Battle of the Somme. Leo was killed at Vimy Ridge on April 18, 1917, at age 23. His letters are also part of the NFB documentary film - Front Lines.
There were many artifacts and documents at Auntie Gertie's house and her brother Bert's house next door. Always a little bit creepy, with a ghost story of Leo to boot. I plan to share pictures and read excerpts from those letters to remind Canadians what decency and bravery look like, and why peace and stability matter. Memory, when shared carefully, can be an act of resistance.
Second, I grew up in the Town of Mount Royal during the FLQ crisis. I remember bombs, soldiers, and police at the door. I was forced to leave Quebec. Those memories never leave you. They also teach you that the answer is not silence or fear—but steady, nonviolent acts of education. I will be sharing my love of Canadian music with others.
Canadian artists like Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot, Stan Rogers, Bonnie St Croix, Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, and so many more. I’m encouraging people to share that music openly and joyfully in their cars, especially Canadians living abroad. Not to confront, but to affirm who we are. If you have any song suggestions, please share them.
FYI - I use AI to help me edit, but you know ChatGPT is programmed to take all the 'fun stuff' out of our writing - like driving near, perhaps parking where separatists gather for signature gathering. Play your music loud and proud. Send your favourite Canadian music playlist to that friend or relative in the States.
I just wanted you to know that your work helped push one retired teacher to stop sitting quietly and start doing something constructive.
Thank you for continuing to sound the alarm—and for reminding people that democracy also needs memory, art, and education to survive.
PS & FYI - Please visit my Substack - there's a bike ride video with your name on it. The bike path we are riding from Gaspe to Haldimand Beach, places Leo loved.
I don’t disagree. But perhaps we can always be optimistic about ascendancy of decency, and we certainly seem to be exposed to the basest level of depravity currently. And most obvious. If we can not establish a new reality from the current state, then there is no hope for humanity. I believe that there is hope. I believe in the inherent knowledge that all humans have. I believe these truths are self evident (to quote a popular document).
I'm reading Hannah Arendt's THE RISE OF TOTALITARIANISM just now, a book my partner bought years ago but hadn't yet read..........its a worthwhile backward look into the evolution of the modern western episteme........particularly in the imperial rampage that went on in the late 19th Century.......and how in that need to make money, to accumulate more wealth through foreign investment in colonies around the world....most parts of Europe seem to have been seized by arrogant views of their own exceptionality.......with of course, the attendant view of colonial others as inferior by definition.
The Imperial Game was transferred to America after Hitler's rampage decimated Europe, but the black lines of history can still be seen in how Western people think under pressure.
Years ago, I read a bit of Wilhelm Reich's analysis of Totalitarianism. The introduction made a claim I have never forgot. Reich believed that fascism was hard wired into the western psyche. All the elites had to do to bring it out in us, he claimed, was to tighten the economic screws ever so slightly.
That has been happening since covid........and likely since the NAFTA treaty was signed by those 4 Irish Eyes Smiling on the Ed Sullivan show.....and voila!!!
His Story is proving Reich prescient....because for sure fascism is rising.....what's more, when goons like Steven Miller tell us that the world has always been run by raw power......by force......he's talking Pure Totalitarianism.
It's in this light that we should see the ICE killings of protesters......random killings of those who stand up, are essential to the game of Raw Power........and Totalitarian Terror, that the USA is playing now at home. After years of playing it abroad of course.......in the skies over Baghdad, Tehran, in the streets of Caracas and other Latin American capitals.....its coming now to cities we all assumed were in the heart of Empire, and so safe from regime change.
NOT SO APPARANTLY....the question is, do we wake up now, or is it too late to join the Woke and consider other arrangements??
When I moved to Alberta a decade ago, and then Kenney came along to create the UCP, I had prepared myself by reading Madeline Albright's Fascism and many articles and books on neoliberalism and Fascism. So I was prepared for Alberta’s path to privatizing public services, social benefits and of course corruption. Then 2016 brought Trump and Big Finance to elections which Alberta followed. Democracy didn't stand a chance in the USA and Premier Smith just pretends. Even my own MLA tells me Alberta Electricity rates are not the highest provincial rates when every chart comparing shows they are.
Fascism doesn't just come with a bang. It is a series of incremental steps. The Heritage Foundation started the increments in the 70s, and here we are 50 years later,
Your spot-on analysis of the Minnesota situation is reassuring but frightening at the same time. Wake Up all those who value democracy….thanks for spelling this deplorable situation out clearly….we Canadians need to Wake Up & be prepared to fight for our country. Stay Strong!!!!
Waking up is all very well and good, but some of us who never fell asleep have sad tales to tell.......as scared and shocked as we are by Trump, a majority of Albertan's voted for Smith, and the new Mayor of Calgary, dealing with a similar water pipe break to that dealt with by his progressive predecessor, has just now decided that 'there's no point in blaming or pointing fingers'.......but yesterday a headline in the Herald makes it look like they might be going to give it a try blaming it on Nenshi.
It's hard to wake up....when you can't critique the system you live under, but have to go looking for someone to blame. It's not Trump....or any of his goon squad....its a free market capitalism that we've all been bowing down to, even as it sucked up more wealth and gave it to the wealthy instead of building homes for our children.
And how exactly are we to wake up to that???
Even if, unless we do, all our rage and excitement will be for naught?
Is there any wonder why Danielle Smith wants to get rid of the RCMP in Alberta and establish her own provincial police force? Make no mistake, the UCP plan for Alberta is ripped directly from Project 2025. She and her followers are just as duplicitous and dangerous as Trump’s.
I had a 24year career with Scotiabank, leaving in 1999. We were then under the leadership of two great individuals. I am totally embarrassed by the comments made by the current CEO. Totally inappropriate, disgusting, and extremely disheartening for a once great employer and institution! Mark
Hello-
I am a Canadian citizen by birth.
Throughout my entire life I have had the pleasure of visiting and touring around the United States; North, South, East and West, until recently when as a Canadian, I joined the U.S. Travel Boycott as soon as it began.
I have observed through the news media, both Canadian and American, Trump's deployment of the National Guard and I.C.E. Agents in cities and towns across the U.S. and have been gut-wrenchingly appalled by numerous cowardly and barbaric acts in the name of "National Security".
I can no longer justify any travel to the U.S. the basis of the fact that I myself may become victim to similar treatment as a visitor.
I recently completed a market research study questionnaire that was polling Canadian tourism to the U.S.
(I assume it was commissioned by American interests.)
I responded negatively to all questions inquiring as to when I would consider visiting the U.S.
The final open-ended question inquired as to what could be done to encourage Canadian tourism to the United States.
My response was succinct and explanatory.
Get Donald Trump out of the White House and get rid of the current Gangster Fascist administration.
I respectfully use the Charlie Angus vernacular for its brevity and truth.
I trust its sentiment speaks volumes for the collective consciousness of Meidas Canada.
I will become a dedicated supporter of Meidas Canada in short order.
Thank you for your time and attention.
They have to protect Paris H from DJT bulk ( BL) mail ...falling for her crimes against women and children. In allegiance with the NETWORK.
Again, thanks for alm you do. I have not been able to figure out what the legitimate police are doing when these ICE mobs try to kidnap people. Should they not be there keeping ICE in line? Who is in control? Do the police of, say Minneapolis, have a rolw?
Really good analysis of the BS going on south of us. TL/DR: the escalation is due to fact that US regime is desperate to make final push. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q502V7fW5s&list=PLgvlbeqzzHd5yX7utPaKUCYG3EzNJZv-y&index=1&pp=iAQB
I'm jumping in headfirst with this one...Dear Charlie Angus,
We really are, as Bruce Cockburn wrote, “lovers in a dangerous time.” When people speak plainly and refuse to normalize intimidation, division, or historical amnesia, they kick at the darkness. And that matters.
My name is Brian McCarthy. I’m a retired teacher living in Calgary. I’m writing because your voice, and the voices of others at Midas Touch, have helped me clarify what I need to do next.
I want to share what I’m going to do, and why.
For years, I've been building free teaching and learning tools—CAP Notes, the WAY Game, and related resources, and putting them online. Mostly to the sound of crickets. Social media rewards outrage and speed, not reflection or learning. I’m finding Substack is the place to be.
Instead, I’m focusing on helping individuals—students, families, and teachers—develop tools for thinking, memory, and creativity, especially as many people face disruption and reinvention in the age of AI. To that end, I'm creating short YouTube videos; bike rides to share tools, words and nature.
This work is tied to a promise I made to my Grade 5 students when I retired: and that was to provide instructions for the WAY Game online, so others could play. After 33 years in the trenches, I’ve learned to be careful what you promise, but also to keep promises.
Recent events, and the rhetoric surrounding them, have pushed me to act more publicly and deliberately. Not with anger, but with what people may do to show support for Canada.
What I’m Doing
First,
A relative of mine, Gordon Pimm, wrote Leo’s War: From Vimy to Gaspé, a collection of letters from my great-uncle, Leo LeBoutillier, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his heroism at the Battle of the Somme. Leo was killed at Vimy Ridge on April 18, 1917, at age 23. His letters are also part of the NFB documentary film - Front Lines.
There were many artifacts and documents at Auntie Gertie's house and her brother Bert's house next door. Always a little bit creepy, with a ghost story of Leo to boot. I plan to share pictures and read excerpts from those letters to remind Canadians what decency and bravery look like, and why peace and stability matter. Memory, when shared carefully, can be an act of resistance.
Second, I grew up in the Town of Mount Royal during the FLQ crisis. I remember bombs, soldiers, and police at the door. I was forced to leave Quebec. Those memories never leave you. They also teach you that the answer is not silence or fear—but steady, nonviolent acts of education. I will be sharing my love of Canadian music with others.
Canadian artists like Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot, Stan Rogers, Bonnie St Croix, Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, and so many more. I’m encouraging people to share that music openly and joyfully in their cars, especially Canadians living abroad. Not to confront, but to affirm who we are. If you have any song suggestions, please share them.
FYI - I use AI to help me edit, but you know ChatGPT is programmed to take all the 'fun stuff' out of our writing - like driving near, perhaps parking where separatists gather for signature gathering. Play your music loud and proud. Send your favourite Canadian music playlist to that friend or relative in the States.
I just wanted you to know that your work helped push one retired teacher to stop sitting quietly and start doing something constructive.
Thank you for continuing to sound the alarm—and for reminding people that democracy also needs memory, art, and education to survive.
Yours in Education,
Brian McCarthy
Calgary, Alberta
playway.ca
thewaygame.ca
substack.com/@swaycanada
PS & FYI - Please visit my Substack - there's a bike ride video with your name on it. The bike path we are riding from Gaspe to Haldimand Beach, places Leo loved.
BOYCOTT all HILTON PROPERTIES.
ICE is the private military President Trump. The army against US civilians of the gangster fascist.
I don’t disagree. But perhaps we can always be optimistic about ascendancy of decency, and we certainly seem to be exposed to the basest level of depravity currently. And most obvious. If we can not establish a new reality from the current state, then there is no hope for humanity. I believe that there is hope. I believe in the inherent knowledge that all humans have. I believe these truths are self evident (to quote a popular document).
I'm reading Hannah Arendt's THE RISE OF TOTALITARIANISM just now, a book my partner bought years ago but hadn't yet read..........its a worthwhile backward look into the evolution of the modern western episteme........particularly in the imperial rampage that went on in the late 19th Century.......and how in that need to make money, to accumulate more wealth through foreign investment in colonies around the world....most parts of Europe seem to have been seized by arrogant views of their own exceptionality.......with of course, the attendant view of colonial others as inferior by definition.
The Imperial Game was transferred to America after Hitler's rampage decimated Europe, but the black lines of history can still be seen in how Western people think under pressure.
Years ago, I read a bit of Wilhelm Reich's analysis of Totalitarianism. The introduction made a claim I have never forgot. Reich believed that fascism was hard wired into the western psyche. All the elites had to do to bring it out in us, he claimed, was to tighten the economic screws ever so slightly.
That has been happening since covid........and likely since the NAFTA treaty was signed by those 4 Irish Eyes Smiling on the Ed Sullivan show.....and voila!!!
His Story is proving Reich prescient....because for sure fascism is rising.....what's more, when goons like Steven Miller tell us that the world has always been run by raw power......by force......he's talking Pure Totalitarianism.
It's in this light that we should see the ICE killings of protesters......random killings of those who stand up, are essential to the game of Raw Power........and Totalitarian Terror, that the USA is playing now at home. After years of playing it abroad of course.......in the skies over Baghdad, Tehran, in the streets of Caracas and other Latin American capitals.....its coming now to cities we all assumed were in the heart of Empire, and so safe from regime change.
NOT SO APPARANTLY....the question is, do we wake up now, or is it too late to join the Woke and consider other arrangements??
I can't get the video to play....
I want to read this but cannot afford to pay. Sorry Charlie. I loved your posts!!🫤
When I moved to Alberta a decade ago, and then Kenney came along to create the UCP, I had prepared myself by reading Madeline Albright's Fascism and many articles and books on neoliberalism and Fascism. So I was prepared for Alberta’s path to privatizing public services, social benefits and of course corruption. Then 2016 brought Trump and Big Finance to elections which Alberta followed. Democracy didn't stand a chance in the USA and Premier Smith just pretends. Even my own MLA tells me Alberta Electricity rates are not the highest provincial rates when every chart comparing shows they are.
Fascism doesn't just come with a bang. It is a series of incremental steps. The Heritage Foundation started the increments in the 70s, and here we are 50 years later,
Wishing Alberta every bit of luck as they attempt to recall Ms. Smith and her posse of fanatics...
PLEASE secure a larger venue for your Calgary talk so more people, including me, can attend. Thank you for all you do, Charlie!
Your spot-on analysis of the Minnesota situation is reassuring but frightening at the same time. Wake Up all those who value democracy….thanks for spelling this deplorable situation out clearly….we Canadians need to Wake Up & be prepared to fight for our country. Stay Strong!!!!
❤️🇨🇦❤️🇨🇦💪💪
Waking up is all very well and good, but some of us who never fell asleep have sad tales to tell.......as scared and shocked as we are by Trump, a majority of Albertan's voted for Smith, and the new Mayor of Calgary, dealing with a similar water pipe break to that dealt with by his progressive predecessor, has just now decided that 'there's no point in blaming or pointing fingers'.......but yesterday a headline in the Herald makes it look like they might be going to give it a try blaming it on Nenshi.
It's hard to wake up....when you can't critique the system you live under, but have to go looking for someone to blame. It's not Trump....or any of his goon squad....its a free market capitalism that we've all been bowing down to, even as it sucked up more wealth and gave it to the wealthy instead of building homes for our children.
And how exactly are we to wake up to that???
Even if, unless we do, all our rage and excitement will be for naught?
Is there any wonder why Danielle Smith wants to get rid of the RCMP in Alberta and establish her own provincial police force? Make no mistake, the UCP plan for Alberta is ripped directly from Project 2025. She and her followers are just as duplicitous and dangerous as Trump’s.
Completely agree Shan, and PP keeps spouting the same crap.