‘Absolutely insane’: Canadians rally against Trump threats

Similar demonstrations were held in several cities across Canada on Sunday.

MONTREAL — Protesters rallied in several cities across the country on Sunday to demonstrate against Donald Trump’s threats to Canadian sovereignty, as backlash to an American president who appears bent on upending the global order gains momentum.

Despite softer-than-expected tariffs against Canada last week and a more cordial tone from the White House over the past week, the echo from Trump’s repeated remarks about making Canada the 51st state continues to ring in Canadians’ ears.

In Montreal, hundreds gathered in Mount Royal Park in a show of solidarity against the belittling comments, with some sporting signs dotted with maple leaves and fleur-de-lis reading, “Hands off!” and “Canada is already great.”

At the foot of a monument topped by a winged goddess of liberty, artists, politicians and the former head of Doctors Without Borders warned about the dangers to free speech, democratic integrity and Canadian independence posed by the Trump administration.

“The threat to our sovereignty is absolutely insane,” said Jonathan Trivisonno, 36, who said he felt “shock” on first hearing Trump’s suggestions of annexation, which included references to the former prime minister as “governor Justin Trudeau.”

“It’s very discouraging. We’ve been friends for so long. My partner’s American, my best friend is American. We’re intertwined” -- but distinct, he stressed, sporting an “Elbows up” sign drawn by his partner and featuring a Canada goose fending off a peckish American eagle.

Others posters were less polite. One rejigged MAGA acronym declared that “Morons Are Governing America.” Another sprouted a middle finger.

Canadian and Quebec flags threaded the crowd, which let out cheers, boos and whistles as a nearby snare drummer tapped out a backbeat to the event, lending it a faintly martial air.

“You’re at home and then you hear that Donald Trump maybe wants to invade Canada, and that all the Trumpist values can come and contaminate us,” said event organizer and renowned Quebec journalist Alain Saulnier. “What we wanted to do was allow people to get out of their homes and make it clear that they do not want Trump here.”

The sentiment resounded from the Maritimes to the Prairies.

In Halifax, hundreds more braved pounding rain to attend a rally outside a convention centre, where they stood in puddles a few inches deep, singing along to a cover band playing the Tragically Hip and other Canadian classics.

Debbie Baker, who was attending the event with her daughter, said this was the first time she’d ever participated in any kind of rally. “I thought at my age now, 66, it’s time to stand up and say something,” she said.

“I’m a proud Canadian, proud Maritimer, proud Nova Scotian, and I’ll be damned if anybody is going to try and take over this country, whether they’re an elected official in Canada or somebody south of our border.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stopped by the rally as he wrapped up a two-day tour of Atlantic Canada, shaking hands and taking selfies in the sea of umbrellas and Canadian flags.

In Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew said his government helped organize a “Rally for Canada” so residents could show regional and national pride and send a message -- that the country will never be an American state.

The demonstrations came a day after Americans gathered in all 50 states to protest the president’s agenda following a dizzying 11 weeks that saw Trump throw up tariff walls, dismantle some government offices and pardon nearly all defendants involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

Organized by civil rights organizations, labour unions, LGBTQ advocates and other groups, the mass protests called out Trump’s efforts to upend government and set off a trade war across the globe.

Dubbed “HandsOff!,” they also denounced the president’s threats to swallow other countries whole, including Canada, and took aim at billionaire Elon Musk’s moves to purge parts of the civil service as head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.

Canadians echoed that suspicion of oligarchs near the Oval Office.

“Musk + DOGE + cryptos danger,” read one sign in Montreal.

Katia Lelievre, a vice-president at the Confederation des syndicats nationaux, warned of “totalitarian tendencies” taking root in American soil.

“When scientists are prevented from doing research, when universities are prevented from teaching, when courts are challenged, when people are fired for blocking policies that don’t look good, it’s not far off,” she said.

Former Quebec culture minister Christine St-Pierre summed up the thrust of the demonstrations: “We won’t be swallowed.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2025.

-- With files from Maura Forrest in Halifax