Charlie Angus is a Canadian politician, author, journalist, and musician, who served as a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament for Timmins—James Bay from 2004 to 2025. Prior to politics, Angus was involved in community activism and co-founded punk and folk bands.
During his time in the House of Commons, Angus became a prominent advocate for social justice, especially for Indigenous rights and Northern communities. He notably co-founded the “Shannen’s Dream” campaign, which championed equitable funding for First Nations schools. He was consistently recognized for his dedication and effectiveness as an opposition MP.
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Good morning. I’m here in the press gallery in the Parliament of Canada, the heart of our democratic engagement with the people. This morning, I offer my deep concern, solidarity, and prayers for the people of California, who were out in the streets unarmed, defending the rule of law against stealing, kidnapping, and deportation. They were being chased down by the military might of the United States Marines.
We’re not talking about creeping fascism here. This was a full-blown police state tyranny from the gangster president, Donald Trump. He will soon be crossing our border to attend the G7 meetings in Canada. I have received hundreds of messages of concern and outrage from Canadians that a convicted felon, sexual predator, and a man who has threatened our nation’s sovereignty is being allowed into our country.
I understand Prime Minister Carney’s reluctance to escalate the situation with the MAGA president, but we have to stop kidding ourselves. We must be very honest about what we are being asked to engage with. Donald Trump poses a clear threat to American democracy, to Canadian sovereignty, and to the international rule of law.
This morning, I will lay out a straightforward, “got him in the kitchen” statement of Donald Trump’s threats—not just to his own people, and not just to Canada, but to the international rule of law. Since November 2024, Donald Trump has made over 100 attacks on Canada. When it comes to the war criminal Putin, he has said almost nothing except to defend, explain, or write off the crimes of the Putin regime. He is doing this at the direct expense of the American people and their Western allies.
He continually promotes Vladimir Putin while attacking President Zelensky, the people of Ukraine, and all the people in Canada. When Russia launched its murderous invasion of Ukraine, Donald Trump declared Mr. Putin a “savvy genius” and said the arbitrary seizure of Ukrainian territory was “quite wonderful.” He refuses to denounce the murderous bombing of the cities of Ukraine and has falsely accused President Zelensky of having started the war.
Trump has put the security of our European allies at risk, to the benefit of Russia. He also undermines American domestic security. When Russia launched cyberattacks in the United States, Trump downplayed the threat and put the blame on the so-called “mainstream media.” Russia interfered with the United States election, which might have helped Trump get elected in 2016, and yet Trump has blocked investigations into foreign interference.
Donald Trump has been more than willing to vilify Canadians. Earlier this year, people around him pushed to have Canada kicked out of the Five Eyes intelligence network. Canada plays a key role in the Five Eyes, helping keep Americans safe. That’s the track record we have as an ally and a neighbor, but none of them has turned Canada into their number one enemy. With recent bogus claims from Kash Patel about “terrorists from Canada flooding over the border,” we see how these falsehoods would have Trump dealing with the threat from Russia.
This past March, the United States ordered the US Cyber Command to suspend operations against Russia. The United States shut down efforts to counter Russian sabotage. Attorney General Pam Bondi blocked the FBI’s foreign interference task force, which leaves the United States wide open to secret influence campaigns by Russia, China, and other dark actors.
You’ve got to ask yourself: Is Donald Trump loyal to the people of the United States who elected him, or to Vladimir Putin’s undermining of the international rule of law?
Just this past February, President Trump said he wanted Russia reinstated after the G7. Russia was kicked out of the G8 for illegally invading Ukrainian territory. In February, Trump opposed the European resolution condemning Moscow’s actions against Ukraine. In opposing this vote on defending Ukraine’s total sovereignty, the United States voted with the gangster regimes of Russia, Belarus, and North Korea.
Trump also rejected Canada’s proposal on tackling Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers that are being used to undermine sanctions. In February, the United States blocked Canada’s proposal to establish a task force to monitor sanction breaches by Russia. The Attorney General has disbanded the program aimed at seizing assets of Russian oligarchs.
Donald Trump, who is a convicted criminal, is more than willing to aid and abet international war criminals. Vladimir Putin, like Benjamin Netanyahu, has bombed hospitals. Vladimir Putin, like Netanyahu, has targeted schools. Trump has said nothing about this. Over 19,000 children have been kidnapped in Ukraine, and in March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children.
As soon as he came to power, Donald Trump cut funding for the Yale program that was tracking Ukrainian children who had been kidnapped from their families and forced into Russia. In March 2025, Russian lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov called for the United States to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Following that, Donald Trump immediately cut intelligence sharing, which led to a series of Russian strikes in Ukrainian cities. Trump has defended Putin’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians and claims it’s easier to deal with Putin than with the people of Ukraine.
Let’s talk for a minute about the tariff war. Trump has launched massive tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and Europe’s key allies. He has claimed that turning off water in Canada will force us as a nation to break and beg to be his vassal state. On top of that, he’s targeted 150 countries, including small countries like Madagascar, Rwanda, and Senegal. Yet, there are no important sanctions or tariffs on Russia. He falsely claims there is no trade with Russia. In fact, there’s $2.5 billion in Russian trade that has been exempted from tariffs, and Trump says he wants more trade with Russia. He says this as he attacks Canada’s manufacturing, steel, agricultural, and entertainment industries.
Canada, we have never had to deal with the United States as an adversary. We know that Donald Trump doesn’t believe in liberal democracy. He doesn’t believe in the rule of law. Canada is an open and inclusive society. Little wonder that Donald Trump has denounced our nation as one of the “nastiest countries.” To pretend that we can get rid of the problem by using economic force to somehow abate it is naïve. We can’t kid ourselves about the stress that’s being caused by Donald Trump.
Mr. Mark Carney is not inviting our nearest neighbor and friendly ally to join us in the G7. Prime Minister Carney is not inviting the leader of the free world to Canada. He is welcoming in Vladimir Putin’s sock puppet. We will have the best feet forward in negotiations with the G6, but Donald Trump will be there as we attempt to negotiate a deal in a dark new world. We must acknowledge that Donald Trump is there to undermine us at every step of the way.
Canada must be focused on containing a clear and present danger to our nation. We must stand with the people of Ukraine and our allies who believe in the democratic order. The Prime Minister has stated boldly that he will stand up against any attempts to interfere in Canada, whether through academia or through American corporations operating in Canada, and to defend the EDI measures that are in place, because Canada is a nation of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
What must Canada do in this new dark age of gangster regimes, when Trump is the gangster? We must keep the boycott strong. I urge the Prime Minister to work with us and with our allies and send a very clear message that we will not support, in any way, the rise of an authoritarian regime south of the border that is using the military against its own people.
Canada, at this point, is holding the line. But we must remain true—north, strong, and free.
