I'm Dutch myself. Grew up near and live in the city mentioned in the 11th verse of the Wilhelmus. Plenty of wars have formed this city over the centuries, it even started out as a small fortress.

About Europe, I agree to a certain point. When it comes to Colonialism, Slavery and Apartheid, sadly other parts in the world knew a thing or two about that too. And still do to some extend.

Yeah build on a Roman military camp, plenty of Roman remains there, wedged between Belgium and Germany, no doubt always has been one of the first cities to get under siege. It still looks like a weird appendix down there!

Europe shaped the modern world in the 17th century, or rather fucked up the world. The consequences are still a big part of today's problems. Africa, ME, India-Pakistan, Americas, parts of Asia, all on Europe. And still supporting colonization of Palestine :/

I guess a picture says more than a thousand words

And some of those colonies (USA) are now continuing to mess up the world. And China is following US' lead more nowadays, increasing its sphere of influence. No longer willing to stay isolationist since the 1980s.

No Trudeau is a dishonest clown. But Doug Ford is more hated here. So both Liberals and Conservatives are out and the NDP sucks as well.

We don't really have any choice here, but having an openly gay mayor here, David Bailey, is some progress. (Unfortunately a bit too much progress on the rapid building side, but that's dictated by Doug Ford's policies for unreasonable growth, doubling our town size by 2051)

With the first past the post system our voices aren't heard here. But there's still petitions and engaging with the county, even though our votes are lost in the system. Green Party is all that's left, and of course who knows what they would actually do if in power. Power corrupts, always does.

Doug is actually quite liked when it comes to the rural and small town folk. He wasn't dealt a great hand to begin with and has been dealing with a ton of crap ever since he took power. This whole 407 thing is just ridiculous. The calls for him to just go to straight up buying the 407 are so blind. He's laying the groundwork for negotiations. If Ontario has plans to bypass the 407 in one or multiple ways, they'll get a better deal when they approach them to buy it. If Doug goes straight for a purchase, the 407 owners will ask for an insane amount of money, plus every first born child.

The building is needed no doubt, but you're right about the rapid part being a problem. They should've been planning for this long ago, yet decided to try and boost the pop quickly, and then try and figure out things like housing. Meanwhile Parliament has been getting a wildly expensive massive reno and maintenance, and they still can't make up their minds about the PM's residence. What a shocker...

Some Canadians are scared of Pierre much like how some Americans were so scared of Trump in 2016/2017, yet we all know much of that scare was blown out of proportion and was for nothing. That's not saying there wasn't anything there, but the worst certainly wasn't true. It will be similar with Pierre, just a Canadian version.

If you remember the last election, the biggest reason why the Conservatives didn't win is because their agenda was too similar to what the Liberals were already doing, so why bother switching. That's why everyone just voted exactly the same as the election before, making the last election a total waste. Less important, but it matters, is O'Toole was not a good candidate, was boring and nobody really liked him. I don't know what the heck the Conservatives were thinking.

This is a big reason why Pierre is presenting himself as he is, speaking the way he is, etc. If his campaign is too similar to O'Tooles then Pierre will have to campaign like there's no tomorrow to just win a minority Gov. The massive right swing that some think will come with Pierre isn't the case. It will swing right but much more so to simply correct for how far left it's gone under JT.

With the Conservatives in power, it will be much easier to work with the US and it will benefit Canada considerably compared to what we've had lately. Remember, Trump likes those who get along with him and makes better deals with them. 

It could always be worse. We could end up with the Peoples Party and Bernier as PM. I wouldn't want to find out how that would play out.

The system does need to change. Many systems within it as well. Though as you said, power corrupts, so the odds of us seeing much if any of that is unlikely.

Ah yes an appendix it is! We are a bit of an outlier down here. Not really part of the original Republic of the 7 Provinces. And the Golden Age? Never touched down here. We had so many rulers over the centuries it makes one's head spin. It's a miracle we turned out to be part of the Netherlands. Well not really a miracle, but a very stubborn Willem II back in 1839.

I'm a volunteer at one of the historic museums down here. If you ever plan to visit the Netherlands, drop by. There are great stories to tell.

I might be back some day but not with Wilders and Schoof in power.

There's a chance I visited that museum 30 years ago. I had a phase where I used the free transport pass for students (OV jaarkaart) to explore every corner of the country. Museums were free for students too back then (maybe still are). I remember visiting an old mine there (museum) and some others. We also had friends there, so now and then we visited to go skiing in Belgium during the day. Beautiful town despite or maybe because of all the conquests.

Not sure what Svennoj post has anything to do with what we were discussing.  Do you speak for all Canadians or do you just speak for yourself.  I have no clue about Canadian government besides what I can easily read but my comments are not about your government its about YOU in general who seems to be very acceptable about a foreign president demeaning your country and trying to make it ok just because the current group in power isn't what you like.  As Svennoj stated, he and his wife do not see it as you do so I am going to assume a lot of other Canadians do not as well.

Now I see your problem, I am not focusing on putting down Trump as I have not said anything personal about him, instead, I put down Trump policy of Tariffs without negotiations.  Its just interesting you feel the need to defend Trump personally but not talk about the individual policies or tactics which is what I am talking about.  Are you defending the tactic of throwing around tariffs like a bully club against your nation.  Are you in defense of his statements demeaning your country and acting as if you are just another third world country. It doesn't seem like you have this national pride that the conservative party you support is talking about because you continue to look for ways to defend what Trump does no matter how it affects your country. 

You say you do not know what Trump dealing with China has to do with Canada and I specifically stated Tariffs.  Are you not seeing the correlations between throwing around Tariffs without fully understanding the cost or do you believe that Canada cannot reciprocate the same tariffs and there will not be a cost to American consumers. Or are you saying that Canada will just take it on the chin do nothing and not retaliate.  Its as if you do not understand what an example is or you just willfully ignoring the subject we are discussing because you want to defend Trump so much.

Who cares about the chatter about making DC or Puerto Rico a state, I was just being cheeky like you were in your last comment.

If you believe Trump was making a joke maybe it was you who do not understand the difference.  If I called your mother fat, that could be considered a joke.  Some people might laugh at it and some will take it personal but the key is that when you throw out such jokes you can always lean one way or the other depending on your audience.  Works all the time and I guess you drank the kool aide.

You - I don't care what you and SvennoJ were talking about, I have my own agenda besides that.

Also you - I don't really know jack about Canada, but I have a problem with you, so I want to sidetrack this convo.

You - You're just one person so you don't speak for most Canadians.

Also you - SvennoJ somewhat disagrees with you, so he speaks for most Canadians.

I'm interested in what SvennoJ and I were conversing about, not whatever You are on about exactly.

Hmmm, my whole conversation on this topic has been with you.  It was you that brought Svennoj into the conversation then get upset, very odd.

Did not say I did not know jack, just that like anyone who doesn't live in another country, I can only be as informed as the information I read about another country.

Yeah, you are just one person but most of your arguments clearly made reference this is how Canadian think.  Then we get a Canadian who thinks different so maybe its just mostly your opinion.

If you do not care what we were talking about, why do you keep responding.  You can just not respond and than the conversation would end.  If you have no answers for the questions I asked that is fine.

Well of course not all Canadians think alike, hence we have the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Green party and Bloc Québécois as main parties.

And people are worried about the tarrifs Trump is threatening with

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/as-trump-vows-major-tariff-hike-a-look-at-what-the-u-s-imports-from-canada-1.7123547

Manufacturers fear 'devastating impact'

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters says it fears the tariffs would have a "devastating impact" on manufacturers, workers and consumers in both Canada and the U.S., and it's working with officials to stress the consequences of the proposals. Last year, $2.5 billion in products crossed the border daily in 2023, with 75 per cent of them manufactured goods. The trade and industry group says Canada's exports to the U.S. are mainly materials and inputs used by American companies to manufacture other products.

"Imposing tariffs wouldn’t just harm Canada’s economy — it would also hurt U.S. manufacturers by increasing their costs and disrupting the deeply integrated supply chains that make North American manufacturing globally competitive," Dennis Darby, president and CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said in a statement shared with CTV News on Tuesday.


Currently I'm more worried about how long this infernal postal strike is still going to last (since Nov 15th). My wife's home business relies partly on the postal system, can't ship or receive anything now. Holiday season ruined. (She tried Purolator, too expensive and slow)

Also our replacement credit cards and refund check are stuck in the mail :(