Sure sure, but Carney is a classic caver too. He’ll talk the talk and deliver nothing.
As an American, I hope Canada transitions into the EU and the Euro. If things unravel further, I would like my life savings to be in Euros - and to have land access to a nation that uses them.
Yeah, I don’t want to be in the EU. Maybe file a petition with your state to join.
Ok, good idea, but European leaders are going to have to grow some balls.
Lmao what are the odds of coming across you here making misogynistic comments, again. You seriously seem like you can’t stop.
What are you even referring to?
I like Carney
The thing that scares me about this though is all the anti privacy shit and on device scanning stuff the EU is doing. I hope they wouldn’t try and implement VAT too.
We already have a VAT. What do you think PST/GST/HST is?
…nun ja.
Love the idea of being closer with EU countries. Onward, PM Carney!
Canadian PM agrees to say participate in European imperialism now that American imperialism is unstable.
I know a lot of you guys are gonna get pissed at the notion that the EU is imperialistic, which it is, but I’m more concerned about what this means for the indigenous and First Nations peoples in so-called Canada. Carney has already eroded and disregarded land sovereignty as part of his “Canadian sovereignty” economic plan, and I can’t imagine that many EU nations would take issue with that.
The general public in Europe, are quite fascinated and respect and admire indigenous history and it’s peoples of today.
Moreso than the bland racist Canadian towards their own people.
That so? Then why do they hoard all the loot? Hm? Why have sanctions against countries that don’t play ball instead of say, Canada or the US, with their consistent and well documented genocide of indigenous peoples?
Europeans are insufferable, not just because they are bloodthirsty imperialists, but because so many of them feel righteous when they have a conveniently “more” bloodthirsty enforcer in the form of the US. You fucking chud.
You okay bud? Log out for awhile, that hostility came out of nowhere lmao.
Friendship ended with
MUDASIRUSAnow
SALMANEU is my best friendI doubt it will ever happen, but it would be extremely funny if Canada joined the EU, and the border between the US and Canada suddenly got loads of EU flags.
At least some Canadians seem to agree. I was honestly surprised by how positive the reaction was, even though I still think that Canadian membership would be a roadblock to the EU becoming a single, federated state.
I think that not even the EU is ready for a federation, as much as I wish it would
Not ready, yet.
Ah another European federalist, love to see them in the wild!
I’ve felt more alligned with Europe as a whole than with the respective European regions my parents come from for a while now.
I will be joining Volt, since they seem to be the first serious pan-european Party with the goal of federating Europe.
I believe european federalism is also the right movement to counter all the nationalism on the rise in Europe.
Federalist high five
Yes, nationalism pales in comparison to what we can achieve as a federation!
I like Volt and especially what they do for a pan-european identity. For me they always battle it out with the Greens for first place of my personal “who to vote for” and I think, looking at the recent political rapprochement between the conservatives and the greens, I think Volt might come out on top next time.
Yeah, I migrated from voting for green to Volt aswell.
I think the Green Party, at least where I’m from, represents my beliefs quite well but are really lacking when it comes to the european project.
Really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve with Volt!
How long will it take? A lot of water shall flow as the saying goes… maybe 20 years will be enough? Btw, since you should be enjoying the idea, would you prefer to abolish national states and to keep the regions (with the necessary adjustments, i.e. finally merging Tyrol with South Tyrol)?
And on the topic of time:
Voßkuhle, by contrast, spoke of a “gradual transformation into a European federal state.” The political agenda claims that we are still a long way from such a development, but in reality, it is already taking place. “It may be that we are talking about a European federal state as something far off in the future and fail to recognize that we are already living in one.” One must be careful not to set in motion a gradual, unnoticed process “that we cannot control,” the president of the court said.
This was the president of the german constitutional court, and I think that he’s right about the EU sliding into a de-facto federal state faster than we recognize. This is imho. why we should start to quickly organize as one so we have some more control over what the result is instead of ending up in another mess of a de-facto status that is not entirely regulated de-jure.
Federation us not only a political act to cede national soverignity and power to the federation. It is also the founding of a nation. And that requires first and foremost a majority consensus of the EU people that they’re Eu citizens.
I for one doubt that I will see it in my lifetime (still some 60 years I hope).
Yes, sadly I have to agree with you
The details are open to debate, in the end we as citizens will have to agree on something. Personally I would not be opposed to keeping the national states as a form of federal states under the umbrella of a common federal government, but then again I could see a more prominent role for the European Committee of the Regions solving some serious issues.
I’m not a regionalist and not a nationalist, I don’t care in principle if we break national states up into regions and those then reorganize, split or unify however they please and federate into a european state or if the existing national states federate as-is. And because I don’t care I think the people who do care (like the various european seperatist movements) should be allowed to plead their case and make an argument about it.
Personally I am not affected enough by any of this to have a strong opinion and I suspect that, with a European Union that takes on many of the responsibilities and decisions that rest with national states right now, those movements to separate or unify would lose a lot of urgency. Just like (for example) the Troubles basically stopped when both the UK and Northern Ireland were part of the EU, without a rigid border between them.
I find the Europe of Regions conceptually fascinating, I’m just also worried that regionalist or nationalist tendencies could increase if we treat borders more like dividing lines between cultures, ethnicities, languages, religions or histories rather than imaginary lines on a map that only influence administrative divisions.
But I also understand that those things affect people and identity can be very caught up in it, so…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ make a good case to abolish nations and have regions be the federal states instead and I’ll listen.
Thanks for the reply, definitely food for thought.
make a good case to abolish nations and have regions be the federal states instead and I’ll listen.
I don’t have any, and I fear that having that many entities would complicate things. Borders are imperfect things, but identity is an important concept, so we should strive to build an European one. More than a Europe of nations, we need a Europe in which everyone (ok, most) can identify with (I’m in Italy and I’m under the impression that I’m in the minority that does, not sure of what’s like elsewhere). Then borders won’t have such a strong meaning anymore.
I’m in Italy and I’m under the impression that I’m in the minority that does, not sure of what’s like elsewhere
I’m in Germany, but I live in a fairly leftist, academic bubble. In my bubble the European identity is already way more important than the german one. But I’ve read that Germans in general are, for historical reasons, less caught up in their national and more in their regional identities and since those are already subsumed under a common german one the step to a common european identity is easier than it might be for more centralized nations.
I fear that having that many entities would complicate things
I get that and I share that feeling. For small-scale representation we have the parliament and that’s already a smaller scale than the region. Currently we’re treating the Council of the European Union as an upper house equivalent, representing the member-state governments and in theory the CoR could become an upper house instead. But as you said it would complicate things. Not least because the political power of regions varies vastly among member-states. Bavaria for example has massive budgetary and legislative power at home while regions in highly centralized France don’t.
I think a better way to enforce subsidiarity would be to give binding consultation rights to the Council of Regions. This would mean that while it wouldn’t vote on every law, the EU would legally be prohibited from passing laws affecting local governments without the explicit approval of the regions. Basically veto power if a majority of the regions feel something goes against their interest.
Right now the Council must be consulted, but can then be ignored.
I still think that Canadian membership would be a roadblock to the EU becoming a single, federated state.
Is that the end goal for the European Union?
For federalists like me it is.
What the EU is, is something open for debate and common decision among EU citizens, but personally I prefer a federalist approach and think I can make a good argument for it.
My major concern is the USA interpreting Canadian accession to the EU as a hostile move by Europe to “encircle” the USA. The so-called “Donroe Doctrine” asserts that the entire New World is the USA’s turf and that it won’t tolerate anyone trying to make in-roads there. In Trump’s mind the USA already owns Venezuela, Cuba, Canada, Greenland, etc and any challenge to that ownership will be interpreted as an attack on American security.
Of course, the rest of the world only humors such a doctrine when the USA makes it worth their while. When the USA was willing to take on certain global responsibilities, that was worth giving them certain privileges. No responsibility = no privilege.
There really isn’t any reason to be scared of the USA right now. It’s a rotting shell of what it used to be. It’s struggling to project power against Iran, let alone Canada and the EU.
It’s also not designed to win wars or conflicts, only to profit off of them indefinitely. Not to mention attacking our former allies and neighbors will be an even more unpopular move amongst an already angry population. People are already pissed about the Israeli pedo state distraction that is the Iran war, attacking Canada or the EU would probably spark massive unrest.
I would like to believe you’re correct, but as a disenchanted American, I think the only thing that will cause mass unrest will be the populous suffering. Americans can stomach doing a lot of horrible shit to the rest of the world so long as their bread is buttered.
Considering the crippling of the FDA, I think it is pretty likely that Americans will be closely examining their bread for Beezlebub. The butter may have grown a fur coat.
All the more reason to build those alliances now. A defense partnership between Canada and the EU would be a huge boon strategically for the defense of Greenland in particular.
Especially considering the US corpos illegally trespassing and preparing to drill oil field in Greenland are currently using Canadian ports to stage their equipment and vessels.
Also, it would be a valuable deterrent on the Canadian border as well. Drumpf is less likely to try annexing Canadian territory if the entire EU is at their back.
Better to present a unified front and have each other’s backs rather than be picked off piecemeal like drumpf wants to do. That’s precisely why he gets so upset about these partnerships. It makes his plans less feasible.
I am hoping that the EU, Canada, and Mexico agree to mutual defense before the US crosses a red line.
He absolutely will interpret it that way, it’s better to deal with it now than later he was always coming for the whole world like the child raping maniac he is.
Fair concern. But if the pedofelon USA doesn’t approve, fuck 'em.
I’ve lived in Canada for a long while now and I have come to realize that the aspects I love the most about Canada come or are compatible with the European influence; by the same token, the odious bits I hate come from the dumpster fire down south…
After we go through this adjustment period, we will be much more aligned with Europe and I am actually very excited to help build and enjoy that future version of Canada
We love hockey too
If you want to feel more European maybe replace your car based infrastructure with one more suitable for pedestrians and bicycles.
Have you been to Canada?
have you ever been to germany? Not really great here as well. I just came back from canada a couple of weeks ago. Some places there are definitely worse than here but some are also quite a bit better. Germany has its fair share of lobbyism from the automotive industry as well, which is especially noticeable if you live close to one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world.
The country has 5% of the population density of Europe. As much as I want some of the infrastructure to be more pedestrian it isn’t viable for at least half of the country. Maybe in another 200 years.
Believe it or not, that should make it easier to blast train corridors in.
Yet still super expensive since you need hundreds of kilometers of rail and rail maintenance between major cities not just dozens, will less passengers and tax base to pay for it.
Its only expensive because you’re drowning in a cost control crisis. Its concrete sleepers, steel rails and gravel. Its rather cheap compared to road infrastructure.
Its only expensive because you want it to be. Will of the people and all that.
Their country is wider than your whole fucking continent dude.
Go read a book that doesn’t have a cartoon dog on the cover.
Canada has the same land area as Europe, with a population close to the population of Poland.
Change it in the cities, genius.
We don’t need to build a subway in the Arctic. People live in cities. Ther population density of Toronto is 4.4k/km2 vs 5.3k/km2 for Stockholm. Don’t fall for car propaganda, we can afford it.
complete BS. Think about it for literally 5 seconds. Do all Canadians live equally spaced throughout the country? No. They mostly live in metropolitan areas. The laws are deeply in favor of car-based infrastructure and actively anti-pedestrian. Improvement is possible, and whoever told you the density thing is either a car lobbyist or echoing their BS
If you’re honestly saying about that about Canada, fuck off. That’s just purely 100% not viable.
Edit: lmao. Getting downvoted for pointing out it is impossible to build out a bicycle network across the second largest country on the planet. SMH The city I live in is struggling to keep the bike lanes it has.
I just want to point out that it’s in the cities that are build the bicycle infras, not to cross a entire country.
But i have no idea how good or bad are those in Canada
If we had a decent high speed rail system and shotengai style downtowns… But we don’t. I spent Christmas in Sapporo once, and it was cold, wet, blizzardy, and we were able to get everywhere without freezing.
1 in 5 Canadians live in the GTA. 1 in ten live in Montreal Area.
Ah yes, because of one statistic, the rest of Canada does not matter, right?
Political borders are absolutely irrelevant to your commute and you know it. Time to move next door to your job.
Also, (at least for now), it gets really cold here! I’ve wiped out trying to bike on ice.
Its cuz you’re wet.. The Finnish don’t have that issue because their children are hardier.
Doesn’t Europe have cold weather as well?
Not really, no - they’re kinda famous for being temperate due to the Atlantic currents
Not just Bikes literally has a video on Norway and how it’s great to use the bicycle there. In Germany we have plenty of ice and snow in the winter. And despite the car-centricity here, getting around on a bike is still a viable option.
The biggest factor is the city maintenance of the bike paths during ice and snow. If the routes are plowed and cleaned first, then people bike. They make small sized pows just for bike roads for this very use, but cities have to buy and commit to them.
Finland has some of highest density bike use areas in the world. It snows a bit there, but they’re also smart enough to clear off the bike routes, which is apparently beyond the ken of much of the world.
Oulu, Finland, has snow all the time and people ride their bikes all the time. It’s a matter of infrastructure
You’ll want studded tyres to cycle in icy conditions. But yeah, there is no requirement to always cycle. Having it as a viable option is great though.
Copenhagen reporting in. We don’t have too much snow so it’s mostly cold and wet weather that keeps people off the bike and even then you see lots of bikes out. My point is your point, you will see a drop in people on bikes when the weather sucks for bikes. In the summer, you will have half of the city population on bikes (made up statistic as I’m too lazy to look it up, but wouldn’t surprise me).
Biking, in a city that has been build for bikes, is a no-brainier as you often will get from A to B faster, and then it’s much cheaper than a car.
Anecdotally, for me biking with studded tires on an icy road feels more comfortable and grippy than biking in autumn on wet leafs. It’s crazy how much of a difference studded tires make in these conditions and how easy it is to adapt to them.
We can’t wait! So nice to have reliable partners in these hard times.
Europe needs more allies, right now they act as if they’re too weak to speak up against US. The closer the capitalistic democracies are, the less politicians feel the need to play nice to the orange bully.
Nah, it’s just pointless to talk to a partner who’s not reliable. See all these talks with putin just b4 ukraine invasion where he pledged he wont invade. Just wasted time n energy.
I think right now EU gets what they want by keeping their heads low. If trump’s that easy to game why not leverage it.
The USA, bringing everyone else closer together by being the loudest belligerent asshole at the international picnic.
Might take a while tho. Look how long the EU–Mercosur Partnership Agreement took until it finally took effect.
