This article originally appeared in the Toronto Star.
By Marcus Kolga, March 19, 2025
Canada has not faced threats of this scale and urgency in generations.
What many Canadians initially dismissed as a crude joke — namely, U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements about making our country the 51st state — has morphed into a sustained campaign of economic and psychological warfare, one seemingly designed to weaken and destabilize Canada as a precursor to forced annexation.
Meanwhile, Russian aggression in the Arctic, on the rise for more than a decade, has intensified further as Trump has steered the United States toward alignment with Moscow, emboldening President Vladimir Putin’s imperialist ambitions.
The toll of these rapidly converging threats is palpable: stress, anxiety and a deep sense of unease are reverberating across the nation, underscoring the urgent need for a thoughtful and coordinated defence of Canada’s sovereignty and stability.
In the Arctic, Russia has spent the past decade aggressively militarizing the region. It has reclaimed and refurbished nearly two-dozen Cold War-era bases while also building new ones, providing it with a massive offensive footprint in the Far North.
Moscow has also developed new undersea Arctic superweapons to expand its strategic advantage, including the Poseidon 2M39. This high-speed, long-range nuclear torpedo is designed to travel along the ocean floor, evading NATO sensors, before detonating near North American coastlines. Its multi-warhead nuclear payload is intended to generate massive radioactive tsunamis, which would render vast Canadian coastal areas uninhabitable for generations.
Perhaps even more concerning is Russia’s claim to resources beneath the entire Arctic Ocean — right up to Canada’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Moscow is clearly ramping up its military presence to secure this claim, as explicitly outlined in Russia’s 2035 Arctic Strategy.
In late February, Russia’s ambassador accused Canada of militarizing the Arctic with Finland and Sweden, echoing a disinformation tactic used by Russia since the Second World War to justify the Kremlin’s foreign neo-imperialist aggression, including against Ukraine.
However, the Russian threat may soon be eclipsed by that of the U.S. Trump’s incoherent economic aggression toward Canada appears to be just the first phase of a broader plan to annex our nation, plunder our resources and terminate our sovereignty. In such an event, no one can predict how Trump would treat Canadians under his rule — nor what might become of Canadians’ assets.
For the first time in centuries, we must contemplate the real possibility that our largest trading partner and closest ally is devolving into an adversary intent on seizing our territory and resources. In response, we must be prepared to defend ourselves against escalating psychological warfare and any further intensification of this conflict.
We can learn from our allies. In November 2024, Sweden’s Civil Contingencies Agency distributed a brochure titled In Case of Crisis or War to every Swedish household. It is a clear, step-by-step guide outlining how citizens can protect themselves and their country in times of crisis. Such proactive planning calms public anxieties and ensures that citizens are prepared to respond with resilience.
The guide covers everything from cybersecurity and psychological defence to first aid, emergency sheltering and adivce for talking to children about war. It begins with an unambiguous statement: “If Sweden is attacked, we will never surrender. Any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
Canada must also make immediate alternate defence arrangements. Sweden, along with other Nordic and Baltic allies, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, has established the Joint Expeditionary Force — a rapid-response military alliance designed to counter emerging threats. Canada should seriously consider joining JEF to complement its existing NATO commitments and enhance its strategic readiness, including possible nuclear deterrence.
We are entering an era in which great powers pursue their interests without regard for traditional democratic values, morality or international norms. Trump’s economic warfare and annexation rhetoric must be taken as seriously as Putin’s threats to our Arctic sovereignty, Ukraine and NATO. These threats could escalate dramatically within months, and from multiple directions.
Partisan political responses to these threats only further erode public trust in the elected officials who engage in them, as well as in our democratic institutions. We must stand united in our resolve to defend our sovereignty, taking inspiration from Sweden’s determination: “We will never surrender.”
