Hamilton MP not laughing over Fox host claims that U.S. should invade Canada
On the surface, the idea of the United States invading to liberate Canada from its prime minister seems too ludicrous to warrant any serious analysis. The idea seems more like a fantasy mashup of the movie Canadian Bacon" and the Freedom Convoy" movement than a real-world possibility.
Yet, while some might scoff at the notion, it is now the subject of a Tucker Carlson Fox News film and Matthew Green isn't laughing.
I would say the notion of what is rational and normal political discourse has shifted so dramatically that things that would have been considered to be absurd five years ago have been mainstreamed," said Green, the NDP MP from Hamilton Centre. Do I think (U.S. President) Joe Biden ever tried to impede on Canadian sovereignty through military intervention? No, I don't. But do I think that, say, a president Ron DeSantis might? I'm not so sure about that."
Carlson, a popular Fox News host and leading voice pushing the false claims that the 2020 presidential election was fixed, appeared in a trailer posted to YouTube Sunday for a new film called O, Canada!" about his idea that the American military needs to free Canada from Trudeau.
Carlson has pushed the idea before, first mentioning it on his TV show in January.
In response, Green asked the House of Commons for unanimous support for a motion condemning Carlson's remarks. The February motion was shouted down by a chorus of nays" by members of the Conservative party.
It seems like nothing is out of bounds for them," Green said in an interview Monday. What really strikes me in Canada as bizarre is all this hysteria and vitriol directed at the prime minister. I don't like Justin Trudeau, but I would never wish the man ill."
The two-minute video posted Sunday features interviews with prominent figures in the Freedom Convoy," compares Canada to Iraq under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, who was deposed by the American invasion in 2003, and quotes past presidents who say the U.S. has a duty to fight dictators abroad.
Green, a former Hamilton city councillor, said Carlson's influence over a vast swath of Americans is why Canadian leaders should have condemned the comments. O, Canada!" might seems like a low-budget sequel to Canadian Bacon" - a 1995 John Candy movie in which an unpopular president threatens an invasion of Canada - but Carlson's influence can sway viewers or inspire those inclined toward extremist action.
Green pointed to Corey Hurren, who drove from Manitoba to Ottawa armed with guns and rammed his truck through the gates of the Governor General's residence in 2020 looking for Trudeau, as an example of what can happen. Hurren, who consumed social media posts about COVID-19 conspiracy theories and believed Trudeau was a communist, was sentenced to six years in prison and granted parole in 2022.
Green already knows how people are responding to Carlson thanks to the intense backlash he received in February when he put his motion on the floor of the Commons.
Green said he received thousands of hateful messages, including some death threats, from Carlson fans in the U.S. and Canada.
It resulted in vitriolic threats of violence, phone calls, emails to our office, which were coming from a person. But the online stuff was difficult to determine how much of it was automated and how much of it was real," he said.
The Hamilton MP said given Carlson's influence, the film has the potential to negatively impact Canada-U.S. relations depending on who wins the 2024 presidential election.
Grant LaFleche is an investigative reporter with The Spectator. Reach him via email: glafleche@torstar.ca