The Nation That Trump Could Never Break

Canada didn’t just resist, they reminded the rest of us how to endure

I’VE NEVER WALKED YOUR STREETS. Never seen your beautiful lakes.

I don’t really know your provinces, your debates, or your daily worries.

But this morning, from a war zone half a world away, I was reading about your election. And for the first time in days, I exhaled.

A small, almost invisible breath. Relief.

Here, even that feels like a gift.

And then came gratitude.

Because what you chose is not just a leader. You didn’t just choose kindness or experience.

You chose to reject stupidity.

You chose not to flirt with fascism.

And from where I write, in a place still paying the price for what happens when others flirt with fascism abroad, I want to say this clearly:

You, my Canadian friends, you chose goodness in a collapsing world. And you saved more than just your country.

You saved a piece of hope for all of us.

I’m not a political person. I’m just a person trying to survive a war.

But even from this far, we see things. We see what is happening in America. We see what one man has done to a country that once inspired the world.

When loudness replaces wisdom. Cruelty becomes strategy. Lies get more airtime than truth.

And we saw something else too. That people who once led the world now feel afraid.

Afraid to speak. Afraid to vote. Afraid of their neighbors.

In a world where silence is growing louder, where so many nations still mistake volume for leadership, you didn’t scream.

You Canadians, you just showed up. And voted. And reminded the rest of us that sanity still exists.

I needed that reminder. The world needed that reminder.

You made the idea of decency feel real again, even here, where bombs try to make us forget it.

You showed us that it is still possible to reject extremism without screaming. Just by saying no. Quietly, peacefully, in a voting booth.

You reminded us that democracy is about people who still believe that decency is worth defending, even when things are far from perfect and there’s so much to improve.

Reminded us that calmness isn’t cowardice. It’s discipline.

And it’s a strength that doesn’t ask to win, but only asks to last.

Here in Ukraine, we know Justin Trudeau very well.

We remember when he raised his voice for us, when many others looked away.

He’s not perfect, sure. Who is? But he stood beside us when it mattered most.

And this kind of loyalty stays.

I’ve met Canadians here. They don’t always say much. But when they speak, it’s with kindness.

Every time I’ve met one, it felt like I was meeting someone who came not to take pictures, not to prove anything, but to help. To be present, to care.

There are good and bad people in every country, I know that. But let me take this chance to say: I’ve never met a Canadian who wasn’t good to me. In person or virtually. Not once. Never.

Canada, you did something brave. And you did it quietly.

You didn’t do it for applause. But you deserve it.

You didn’t just protect your country. You protected the idea that countries can still be good.

You protected all of us who are still fighting to believe it.

Because if more countries don’t follow your lead, even the ones still standing may not stand much longer.

Countries that don’t need to be the loudest. Just the kindest.

The calmest.

The ones who still choose peace even when the historical moment is upside down and makes it easier to choose rage.

You have the biggest border with the United States, but you don’t see them as enemies.

Believe me, Ukrainians know well what it means to receive threats from those we share our biggest border.

And still, you see the United States as a nation of brothers. As neighbors. Even when they’re lost in something dark.

You know that their government does not reflect the spirit of their nation, even considering that millions of them voted for a man who insists on saying that your country needs to be turned into one of their states.

Instead of seeing the people with red hats and hate speech, you still see those millions of Americans who said they would consider joining Canada because of him.

That is wisdom. That is maturity. That is leadership.

From where you are, you couldn't hear the sound it made abroad. But over here, it was loud.

It was the sound of something still standing when so much is falling. The sound of a choice bigger than a country, of a future refusing to die.

And in the silence after that sound, something inside us said: keep going.

.

So, thank you, Canada.

Not for being perfect, but for being clear.

For being rational.

For being yourselves when so many others are trying to be something worse.

Thank you for proving that Trump is wrong when he tries to teach the world that kindness is weakness.

You reminded us that we are not alone.

We’re still here. Under sirens. Under silence.

Because of you, this morning felt a little less like the end of the world.

And a little more like something worth staying alive for.

🇺🇦🇨🇦

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