Russia Russia Russia
- 8 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Everyone seems to need a villain. For many, that villain is Russia.
I won’t go into the long, complex history, or discuss how our current geopolitical situation evolved, but I do wonder about the degree to which people have an enemy because they want or need one. Several years ago, I posted about Theory X and Theory Y, where X assumes that people are inherently unmotivated and need to be actively ‘managed’, while Y assumes people are generally self-motivated and need to be supported and encouraged. As someone who ‘believes’ in Theory Y, I wondered whether I believe in it because the majority of my professional relationships have been positive, or whether my work experiences have been positive because of my belief in Theory Y?
In any case, and for whatever reasons, Russia has definitely taken actions which can be considered villainous, but it’s important to realize that things are never as clear-cut as many wish, and there was no meticulously-planned, decades-long strategy like the ones described by conspiracy theorists, or endless movies, books, and so on.
That said, Russia has been very effective in a number of sophisticated propaganda and disinformation campaigns, which appear to have contributed to Brexit and the 2016 election of Donald Trump, but it is interesting to note that their motivations have often been more about generating chaos and confusion, and sowing disinformation, than about any particular political or social goal.
I would speculate that similar campaigns in earlier periods would have been far less effective, and that the more recent ones were effective because of societal changes, political polarization, and increasing economic inequality. During the Cold War, both the US and USSR were spending unsustainable amounts of resources, and the fact that the USSR collapsed first does not mean that the US was undamaged – in fact, I would argue that many of the problems in the US today are the direct result of changes made by Reagan, but that’s another story.
One of the benefits of having a villain, though, is that everything can be blamed on that villain, which makes it easier to avoid accountability. Particularly in our current post-nuance world, this leads people to believe that everything can be ‘fixed’ if we just ‘do X’.
So, much as I would like to believe that Canada is immune to the sort of insanity we see in other parts of the world, we’re not.
In particular, as I mentioned at the time, it seemed very likely that Canada was about to elect Pierre Poilievre as Prime Minister, and that it was mainly due to Trump’s idiotic 51st state comments that Mark Carney was elected instead.
But, while Canada has a lot of problems, we certainly do not want to see foreign propaganda and disinformation campaigns – our existing problems are quite enough.
Which brings me to Pete Hoekstra, the current US ambassador to Canada.
The more I learn about him, the less I like him, but that seems to be the case for nearly everyone associated with Donald Trump. Unsurprisingly for a Republican former member of Congress, he opposed abortion, opposed expanding free health care for children, opposed gay adoption and gay marriage, and managed to ‘earn’ an A rating from the NRA. Being racist and homophobic as well is not disqualifying for Trump, of course, so he was nominated and confirmed in 2025.
How about his record as ambassador?
Well, to be honest, when I looked at the list, I didn’t recognize the names of any of his predecessors, so it’s probably not a good sign that I know his.
Calling the Liberal Party’s 2025 federal election victory ‘an anti-American campaign’ doesn’t sound good, nor does saying that it was ‘not constructive’ and ‘a bad place to go’ to refer to the 2025-2026 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico (the exact name in Wikipedia) as a ‘trade war’.
Still, he’s a Trump appointee, so what should we expect?
Well, there’s more, as Charlie Angus describes in his video about Hoekstra and the petition to kick him out.
Petition e-7531, to the House of Commons, requests that the Government of Canada declare Hoekstra persona non grata, request that he be removed as ambassador, raise concerns about Hoekstra’s conduct with the US government, and direct a parliamentary committee to review US diplomatic interference in Canadian domestic affairs.
The reasons given for the petition include his ‘anti-American’ comment, his description of the 51st state threat as a ‘term of endearment’, and his accusations that Canada is interfering in US politics, while he flagrantly attempts to do exactly that in Canada.
That wasn’t the bad part.
The petition also notes that “Ambassador Hoekstra has been linked to a Michigan-based voter identification app used by the Alberta separatist Centurion Project, while claiming no knowledge of its use.”
‘Centurion Project’? WTF is that?
Well, it’s an Alberta separatist group which appears to have obtained and posted a copy of the Alberta electors list. That’s bad enough, but having the US Ambassador to Canada tied to such an organization is utterly ridiculous and absolutely unacceptable.
But wait! There’s more!
The petition also states that “The Alberta Prosperity Project met with U.S. State Department officials three times between April 2025 and January 2026, with Hoekstra claiming no knowledge of those meetings, raising serious questions about U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian unity”
If this isn’t interference in Canadian domestic politics, what does the phrase even mean? And Hoekstra’s denial? Well, I simply don’t believe it.
To Mr Hoekstra, my comment would be: “Stay out of Canadian politics,” but I have no reason to believe that he will behave in a professional or ethical manner. It may not seem like much, but petitions help. Even more important, though, vote! Even if you don’t have a candidate you are excited about, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that ‘they are all the same’. They’re not. We dodged a bullet in the last federal election. Don’t get complacent!
I’d recommend that all Canadians sign, and I agree with Charlie Angus. (As of 26-Aug-2026, the petition had already collected over 258,000 signatures)
Throw the bum out!
Cheers!
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