‘We are at great risk’: How Canadians can deal with anxiety in the face of existential threats from the US
The second term of US President Donald Trump has threatened Canada with taking over and economic collapse and has disrupted the international order that has dominated the world since the Second World War, leaving. many Canadians feel anxious and worried.
The barrage includes comments about Canada becoming the 51st country, warnings not to challenge Trump, job insecurity due to the ongoing trade war and threats of increased tariffs.
“Any talk of attacking my country in any way, whether it’s economic or geographical … I mean, I can cry now,” said Lili Wexu, a Canadian born in Montreal who lives and works in Los Angeles as a bilingual voice actress.
“My Canadian heart just broke. I mean it felt like someone was beating me.”
Wexu is not the only one struggling. A January 28 poll by Angus Reid found that four in five Canadians feel more fearful than optimistic about Canada’s relationship with the US in the coming year.
Canadians were asked if they felt Trump would pursue more “regime change” operations, such as the one in Venezuela or if they felt that was an isolated incident. Three-quarters say they expect the Trump administration to pursue other federal jobs.
“We are in a world now where the giants are just trying to get more,” said Wexu.
“Russia is attacking Ukraine. The US sees it [set] Canada and Greenland… China will go to Taiwan. We just live in a world where I don’t think any of us will be safe from that. “
‘It feels really dangerous’
Those feelings of fear and anxiety are valid and normal reactions that can develop when someone has already been hurt, disrespected and disapproved of, says Carolyn Klassen, a therapist at Wired for Connection in Winnipeg.
Rather than ignoring those feelings, Klassen suggests we honor them, manage them and figure out how to manage them.
“We feel like we’re in a new place and that’s a shock because it’s not normal and we don’t know what to do in this space.”
Klassen also noted that we share a border with the United States.
“They’re really down the road … and now it sounds like the rules are changing and that’s not certain,” he said.
“It feels really vulnerable.”
Winnipeg therapist Carolyn Klassen confirms the feelings of anxiety and fear some Canadians are experiencing amid economic and sovereignty threats from the Trump administration.
Retired environmental consultant Barry Lunseth agrees, pointing to American interventions that overthrew the governments of Chile in 1973 and Iran in 1953.
“If you look at the history … the US has been involved in other countries for the last 70 years. They have been involved in Chile, they have overthrown the government there, they have been involved in Iran and they have overthrown that democratic government there. So this is not the first time,” said the man from Calgary.
“So, that’s why we have to be very careful, be careful and not overreact, but at the same time, you know, stand on our feet.”
For many Inuit, Trump’s preference for Greenland has also been an ongoing concern.
“Inuit culture can be endangered,” said Kaujja Qumangaapik in Inuktitut, at the Iqaluit airport.
“Inuit in Canada will be affected,” said Titus Alooloo.
“If you look at Alaska, it’s a U.S. state and if Greenland were a U.S. state, Canada is in the middle and will be caught in the middle, and these are very uncertain times right now.”
Klassen says it’s important to stay informed and understand how the threats and the real impact of job losses are affecting people, but recommends managing the news and using social media because “information is different from being overwhelmed.”
And instead of hiding your fears and worries, you also suggest finding people or a community that can support you.
“We are wired and we need each other like we need food, water and oxygen,” Klassen said. “When we share our grief, we can manage it better. It’s just important that we don’t do this alone.”
For Alooloo, that’s the natural way.
“Inuit must come together and support each other,” he said.
‘It’s too close’
Getting support cand it is very important if someone comes from a country where they have already experienced what is happening where threats to sovereignty be realKlassen said.
Yaroslav Zhovner, from Ukraine, moved to Winnipeg from Poland in July 2022. His wife and three children followed him from Lviv three months later.
“When the war started, at that time I was working in Poland, but it is still very close to Ukraine,” he said. “We have to move somewhere else to be safe and keep the children in a safe place.”
They chose Canada because it was safehe said.
But now, hand he said hear parallels between the threats from the Trump administration and what Russian President Vladimir Putin was saying before the invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and in the weeks and months leading up to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“We had the same situation in 2014 and 2022 … now we see what happened,” Zhovner said.
“It is very close …. The words of the leader, but what everyone is talking about, it is very close and very similar.”
Zhovner and his wife still have family members and friends in Ukraine so “when bombs hit the city, it’s bad,” he said.
“We call our parents every day, check how they are.”
His wife feels worried and his children, aged five, nine and 13, often have questions.
All he can do, he said, iI told them they were safe. “Keep working, keep living and try to make our life easier and better.”
Time for unity, not division
Lili Wexu says she practices self-care — she eats well, does yoga and limits her screen time.
Anyway, he said fThe eels are helpless and worried about their loved ones in Canada, especially Quebec and Alberta who may face referendums on sovereignty.
“I’m really worried about people who want to break away from that right now because we need to come together as Canadians,” he said.
“A lot of bad things can happen when the population is divided. So this is not the time to be divided… We are very vulnerable as a soft power.”
