Thread by @ClimateAudit

Ukraine's relationship to Russia has many points of similarity to Canada's relationship to USA. But a picture is worth 1000 words. As a thought experiment, let's re-locate US into Russia and Canada into Ukraine, with French-speaking Quebec, English-speaking Ontario and "Michigan"

in our experiment, let's additionally suppose that our re-located USA and Canada were part of the old USSR, which for 30 years was ruled by a dictator from Honduras (re-located to Asian Georgia) and since WW2 by two leaders from our re-located Ontario (Khrushchev, Brezhnev)

then, in 1952, "Canadian" leader of the USSR administratively re-assigned Michigan, which had been part of USA since 1776, into the Canadian Socialist Republic.

next, in 1990, the USSR breaks up, with Michigan left (against its wishes) as an orphan in "Canada".

Let's additionally suppose that our new "Canada" is more or less evenly divided between French-speaking group and English-speaking group.

Politics in our re-located Canada divide along linguistic lines - like now, but even more so.

However, in our scenario, politicians from "Quebec" become very nationalistic about language rights, while politicians from "Ontario" and "Michigan" try to preserve local rights.

In 2010, a politician from "Ontario" is elected as President of "Canada". Our "Ontario" region has very strong economic and cultural ties to "U.S.A." - just as it does at present.

In 2014, with backing from "Russia" (re-located to North America), riots and armed militias from "Quebec" force the elected president of "Canada" to flee to the "USA".

In its very first act, the legislature of the newly-installed French-speaking govt passes legislation banning use of English in all public institutions.

"Michigan" immediately holds a referendum to separate from "Canada" and to re-join "U.S.A." (where it had previously belonged). "Russia" across the ocean is furious.

"Ontario" similarly announces its independence from "Canada", now a puppet of overseas "Russia". "Ontario", like Ontario, has strong cultural and economic ties to USA.

However, "Russia" launches a policy of isolating "Ontario". "U.S.A" is somewhat sympathetic to "Ontario", but it's not the same as "Michigan".

Meanwhile, across the ocean, "Russia" insists that "Michigan" be returned to "Canada".

Analogies are never perfect.

However, as someone in Ontario, the parallel between Canada's relation to US and Ukraine's relation to Russia seems both obvious and relevant.

in my prior commentary, I've focussed on what Quebec would have done if an elected French-speaking PM of Canada had been driven out of office by mobs from western Canada, which then sought to eliminate minority language rights.
Quebec would separate immediately.

But that analogy missed the even more telling comparison set out today. Rather than Quebec corresponding to eastern Ukraine Donbass, it is Toronto and southern Ontario that are the closest parallel to Donbass.

like it or not, Toronto and southern Ontario are inextricably part of a North American continent dominated by US.

When I comment on US politics (as I do), I'm in more or less the same position as someone from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine commenting on Russia.

it would also be possible from English-speaking Canada to be defensive of right to speak English (if it were threatened by oppressive French-speaking federal government) without being
"pro-American".

I don't know enough about Donbass to say whether defense of language rights by Russian-speaking minorities means that they are "pro-Russian". They may be. But I do know that it would be possible to be defensive of English-speaking language rights without being "pro-American".

Whatever the merits of this analogy, here's one thing that I'm sure of: if Toronto and southern Ontario were placed in the sort of quandary as Donbass, our status should be up to us (not some overseas country).