Trump touches down in Canada for G7 summit. Here's what's on the menu.



The Group of Seven is an informal bloc of first-world nations consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. that has met since the 1970s to coordinate on matters of international security, human rights, economic governance, and technological matters.

Amid rising military tensions between Israel and Iran, unresolved tensions between Ukraine and Russia, and ongoing extranational vexation over his tariff strategy, President Donald Trump touched down in Canada on Sunday for this year's summit in Kananaskis, an unincorporated Alberta community in the Rocky Mountains.

Leaders from various non-G7 member nations will also be present at the summit, including leaders from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Ukraine.

A senior U.S. official told Blaze News that Canada "worked with G7 colleagues to craft short, action-oriented leaders' statements on key issues of common interest. Working discussions will, but not limited to, cover trade and the global economy, critical minerals, migrant and drug smuggling, wildfires, international security, artificial intelligence, and energy security."

These topics correspond to the priorities for the summit identified by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's office earlier this month. The prime minister's office noted that other discussions will include a "just and lasting peace for Ukraine and other areas of conflict around the world."

"The president is eager to continue to pursue his goals in all of these areas, including making America's trade relationships fair and reciprocal, unlocking new markets for American energy exports, and positioning the U.S. to be the world leader and international partner of choice on AI technologies," the senior American official told Blaze News.

The official added, "We appreciate Canada’s cooperation in the planning of this summit and their choice of a gorgeous location in Kananaskis for these important conversations."

RELATED: Listen up, America: Everything you've been told about Canada is a lie

 Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Officials from the host country, which Trump has slapped with numerous tariffs in recent months and repeatedly suggested should become the 51st state in the union, appear keen to ensure that the president has a good time to avoid a repeat of the kind of breakdown of goodwill that followed the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec.

Trump left that summit early after reportedly suggesting to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that an injection of 25 million Mexicans into Japan would lose Abe his next election and telling French President Emmanuel Macron during a conversation on Iran and terrorism that Macron had a special familiarity because "all the terrorists are in Paris." Trump then remotely torpedoed a joint G7 statement on account of what he claimed were "false statements" from former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he emphasized was "weak."

'Press reports stress that the participating countries are trying to bend over backward to avoid antagonizing President Trump.'

"The backdrop to this G7 are the tensions between the U.S. and the other G7 members," Christopher Layne, professor of international affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, told Blaze News. "The leading causes of division are Ukraine, President Trump's tariffs, and the administration's apparent break from the institutions and norms upon which the post-1945 liberal rules-based international order rested."

Layne noted that the G7s Trump attended in his first term were "openly acrimonious."

"In an attempt to avert a rupture this time, Canada, the host country, determined that there will be no joint communique issued when the meeting ends," continued Layne. "Press reports stress that the participating countries are trying to bend over backward to avoid antagonizing President Trump. In this atmosphere, it is unlikely that the meeting will produce any major breakthroughs, though the U.S. will seek progress on several issues, including trade/tariffs, drug smuggling, and migration flows."

Carney — the self-identified "European" World Economic Forum regular who all but guaranteed British economic decline while governor of the Bank of England, then replaced Justin Trudeau to become Canadian prime minister in March — met Sunday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Ottawa and agreed to establish an economic and trade working group and to strengthen military cooperation both bilaterally and through NATO.

RELATED: The Great Reset just got a North American enforcer in Ottawa

  Trump at the G7 in Charlevoix, Canada, in 2018. Photo by Jesco Denzel /Bundesregierung via Getty Images

Carney then headed west for his one-on-one meeting Monday morning with Trump ahead of the official start of the summit.

A day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Anita Anand, the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, affirmed the "important relationship" between their respective nations, Carney welcomed Trump to the summit, wishing both the president and the U.S. Army happy belated birthdays and emphasizing the importance of American leadership at the G7, which is apparently celebrating its 50th birthday.

'I'm sure we can work something out.'

Trump once again bemoaned the removal of Russia from the G8 following its invasion of Crimea, noting that talks about Russia would be easier with it representatives at the table.

"The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn't want to have Russia in," said Trump. "And I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn't have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago."

— (@)  
 

Concerning the immediate talks ahead, Trump told reporters, "Our primary focus will be trade, and trade with Canada."

"I'm sure we can work something out," said the president, emphasizing that he's a "tariff person," while Carney "has a more complex idea but also very good."

Carney's office did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

Professor Layne suggested to Blaze News that "even though this is not formally a NATO conference, President Trump is certain to push for increased defense spending from U.S. allies in East Asia and Europe."

"President Trump approaches multilateral fora with extreme skepticism," Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Europe Center, told CNN. "He does not view these organizations as ways to deepen and expand American power and influence. He sees these fora as constraining America, and I think that’s something to remember as he goes into this. He is skeptical towards the G7’s consensus-driven approach."

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World Economic Forum regular Mark Carney's win energizes Canadian secessionists in Alberta



In addition to unlawfully declaring martial law to crush a peaceful protest, Canada's Liberal government has in recent years overseen a historic growth of the federal deficit, numerous tax hikes, an unprecedented influx of immigrants, a spike in illegal immigration, rising crime, unanswered church burnings, a worsening housing crisis, coercive medicine, the rise of state-facilitated suicide as a leading cause of death nationally, and the alienation of the western provinces.

The socioeconomic situation is apparently so dire, a recent government report detailing the nation's "downward social mobility" noted that some residents may soon have to turn to foraging and hunting to meet basic food needs.

Canadians — not so much those in the 18-to-34 age bracket who largely voted Conservative, but those over the age of 55 — decided in the federal election Monday to award the same Liberal government another four years. They may have done so at the risk of ultimately losing one or a couple of provinces.

'Large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government.'

The success of the Liberals — now under the leadership of Mark Carney, the self-identified "European" World Economic Forum regular who all but guaranteed British economic decline while governor of the Bank of England — has breathed new life into the Alberta secessionist movement.

Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party of Canada and a former leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, noted ahead of the election, "On account of the mismanagement of national affairs for the past decade by the Liberal government, and its consistent failure to address those issues of greatest concern to Western Canadians, large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it."

"The support for Western secession is therefore growing, unabated and even fueled by Liberal promises to reverse many of their previous positions. Such promises of expediency simply don't ring true in the West," continued Manning. "Who, except the most politically naive, would believe Mark Carney's promises to reverse the Liberal positions on everything from east-west pipelines to identity politics and climate change, when standing behind him is a cabinet of 23 MPs who, just a month ago, were advocating for the very opposite and have done so for years?"

The former opposition leader noted further that while the bottom-up support for western secession is currently centered on the oil-rich prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, "it has the potential to spread to most of B.C., Manitoba, and the adjacent territories depending on how it is organized and led."

A day after the federal election, Alberta lawmakers introduced legislation that would make it easier to start a referendum, including one on separating from Canada, reported CityNews.

The bill lowers the threshold for a citizen-led referendum from 20% of eligible voters to 10% and affords campaigners 120 days rather than 90 days to secure signatures.

'Now is the time to end the abusive and toxic relationship with Ottawa.'

"I believe in Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada," said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. "However, there is a citizen referenda process that if citizens want to put a question on a ballot and get enough of their fellow citizens to sign that petition, then those questions will be put forward. Again, I don't want to prejudge what a question might be."

While Smith is apparently not a separatist, Alberta — home to the fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the world — has its fair share who might vote to leave.

When pollsters from the Angus Reid Institute asked Albertans whether they would vote to leave Canada if the Liberals were to form the next government, 30% of respondents said yes. Notably, even more Saskatchewan respondents — 33% — expressed interest in leaving the federation behind.

Cameron Davies, the leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, formerly the Buffalo Party of Alberta, is reportedly planning hundreds of town halls to seize upon this discontent and to promote secession.

"After decades of attempts at reconciliation with the rest of Canada, now is the time to end the abusive and toxic relationship with Ottawa and the east that we find ourselves in today," Davies told CityNews.

Davies, a former organizer for Smith's party who also spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, told Ricochet, "I am shocked, actually, by the number of people that I've had conversations with — at town halls, coffee meetings, dinner parties — that have said, 'I've never thought myself a separatist, but I think that might be our only choice left.'"

"In the last couple dozen events that we've conducted — low-key organizing, having interesting meetings with diverse groups across the province — the party's membership has exploded by an additional 8,000 in the last three and a half weeks. And that's without a lot of effort," added Davies.

While the future of Davies' party is uncertain, it's abundantly clear from Monday's election results that there's no love lost for the Carney Liberals in Alberta.

With 172 seats required for a majority, the Liberal Party came out on top with 169 seats and 49.3% of the vote. Conservatives, lead by Pierre Poilievre, lagged behind by nearly 480,000 votes, netting 144 seats and 42% of the total vote.

'Threatening to leave the country because you don’t get your desired electoral outcome is counterproductive and unpatriotic.'

Urban hives and regions heavily reliant on the government for jobs or welfare apparently skewed Liberal. Rural, industrial, and younger areas of the country appear to have picked the Conservatives.

The Conservatives netted 91.9% of the vote in Alberta, the province with the youngest population. The Liberals alternatively brought in a measly 5.4%.

Premier Smith said in a statement Tuesday, "A large majority of Albertans are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government."

"In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province's future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward," added Smith.

Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney recently blasted those considering the path forward that leads Alberta out of Canada, telling reporters, "Threatening to leave the country because you don’t get your desired electoral outcome is counterproductive and unpatriotic. And I don't think it's something that should be thrown around."

"Nor should central Canadian political elites be dismissive of the very legitimate grievances that people in the West and Alberta have about the attacks on our energy industry," added Kenney.

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If Canada turns down US statehood, what about just oil-rich Alberta?



If Canada won't take Donald Trump up on his offer to become the 51st state, one Canadian has a counteroffer: What about just Alberta?

Foothills, Alberta, lawyer Jeffrey Rath says he and a lot of Albertans have “had it” with the Trudeau government and, increasingly, even with Canada itself. He says if Canada isn’t interested in becoming the 51st state, then Alberta should accept President Donald Trump’s invitation.

'We're fed up, and we see no reason to continue being governed by complete idiots from Ontario and Quebec who don't even know where their oil comes from.'

As he wrote in a recent Substack post:

With the election of Donald Trump, Alberta has a unique opportunity to shed its inferior status as a Canadian "province" (effectively a colony of Ontario and Quebec) and become an American state.

There is no doubt that President Donald Trump would happily announce Alberta statehood as the greatest real estate deal since the Louisiana Purchase as the culmination of the American 250th anniversary celebration.

First steps

Rath has organized a blue-ribbon committee to move Alberta first on the road to independence and then to join the United States.

“We've had, I've said, several steering committee meetings today. I mean, I'm working with people. We're putting together a package of materials and briefing notes and those types of things," he told Align.

"We don't want to go down there [to Washington] and come across as anything other than serious professionals with a serious professional message that we want to deliver."

Although the immediate catalyst for Rath's plan was Trump's offer — as well as the current tariff crisis and trade war with the U.S. — Rath said he’s “been feeling this way” for three years at least.

Remember the Freedom Convoy

“I have to say, it really came to a head for me when [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau unnecessarily declared the War Measures Act against my fellow Albertans who simply went to Ottawa to peacefully protest,” Rath said, in reference to Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act to crush the Freedom Convoy, a trucker-based protest against the COVID-19 mandates that was centered in Canada’s capital of Ottawa in February 2022.

Rath called Trudeau’s draconian measure "an anti-Canadian unconstitutional violation of our rights. … You know, we need to take our dirty, smelly diesel trucks and our dirty, smelly oil and go home, or face 10 years in an Ontario prison.”

Rath is also furious over the federal government's talk of using Alberta oil and gas to fight Trump’s tariff — despite Canadian law giving provinces jurisdiction over their natural resources.

"We're fed up, and we see no reason to continue being governed by complete idiots from Ontario and Quebec who don't even know where their oil comes from."

Ignorant threats

As evidence of this ignorance, Rath cited the federal government's threat in January to cut oil exports from Alberta to the U.S., a move that rankled local leadership.

"They were all too dumb to know that their own oil comes from Alberta, goes down through Michigan, up through Line 9 Illinois, and then back into Ontario and Quebec. So if they shut off Alberta oil, they would effectively be doing what a lot of Albertans suggested that we should do [in the first place] … let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark."

Rath also slammed Ontario Premier Doug Ford for his continued threats to shut off the electricity to the U.S., saying doing so would constitute an "act of war."

"If you crash the northeast power grid, there's going to be at least 500 or 600 deaths, whether it's from traffic lights going out or ventilators [at hospitals] failing."

COVID all over again?

Rath compared the current euphoria over counter-tariffs against the U.S. to the pro-vaccine groupthink that dominated the country's media and government during the COVID pandemic. Like the vaccine, counter-tariffs are not the cure for what ails Canada.

For that, Rath suggests Canadians look closer to home.

“Everybody keeps forgetting that the Trudeau junta is preparing to slap us all with a 21% increase in the carbon tax in April."

Rath said this carbon tax would likely cripple the Canadian economy far more than any of Trump's tariffs. "It's right across the board on all energy, all home heating, trucks, cars, anything people need to go to work,” Rath told Align.

“And maybe the reason that Trudeau is so mad about this and thinks it's the end of Canada is because he doesn't want to back off on his 21% carbon tax. He's already booked that and cooked that into the books.”

Check out the full interview with Rath below:

 

Trump demands construction of Biden-canceled Keystone XL Pipeline — but confidence to build may require big changes



President Donald Trump suggested Monday evening that he wants the Keystone XL Pipeline, which former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden both sought to kill, built "NOW!"

"Our Country's doing really well, and today, I was just thinking, that the company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built — NOW!" Trump wrote on Truth Social, roughly a month after telling the World Economic Forum that America does not need Canada's oil or gas.

Trump added, "I know they were treated very badly by Sleepy Joe Biden, but the Trump Administration is very different — Easy approvals, almost immediate start! If not them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built!"

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith welcomed the idea, stating, "That project should never have been cancelled. Lower fuel costs for American families is a big win."

The premier of the adjacent prairie province of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, suggested that the pipeline, unlike the 10% tariff Trump has threatened to place on Canadian exports of crude oil, is a good idea.

"The path to continental energy dominance is to increase non-tariff North American trade," noted Moe. "This includes the construction of new pipelines like Keystone XL."

Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of the energy advocacy organization Power the Future, told Blaze News that Biden's 2021 revocation of TC Energy Corporation's cross-border permission to build the pipeline has so shaken confidence in the American government's willingness and ability to honor deals with the private sector that it will take more than an optimistic social media post to make things happen.

The proposed 1,179-mile Keystone XL Pipeline would have carried Canadian crude oil from the province of Alberta, which has the fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the world, to Steele City, Nebraska, where an existing pipeline would route the profitable resource to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

The existing Keystone Pipeline System already sends over 590,000 barrels of crude oil daily to refineries in Illinois and Texas. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the proposed KXL pipeline would increase the system's capacity to at least 830,000 barrels of oil per day, add several billion dollars to America's GDP, reduce American reliance on production from South American and Middle Eastern countries, and create tens of thousands of jobs.

To the delight of climate alarmists, former President Barack Obama rejected the project in 2015, refusing to grant the cross-border permit needed to proceed. Obama claimed at the time that the pipeline "would not serve the national interests of the United States," even though his own State Department admitted months earlier that the project would create about 42,000 jobs.

'He put the faith and credit of the United States government in question when it comes to these types of projects going forward.'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also a climate alarmist, did not appear too bent out of shape by the bad news.

While the Trudeau government convivially accepted the costly decree from south of the border, TC Energy launched a $15 billion lawsuit seeking compensation under NAFTA.

Upon taking office in 2017, Trump reversed the Obama administration's decision and gave TC Energy the green light to proceed, stating, "It's a great day for job and energy independence."

TC Energy quickly dropped its lawsuit.

In the two years that followed, development costs exceeded $1.5 billion.

Despite the billions of dollars invested, the guarantee of greater capacity, and the construction of 93 miles of pipeline, President Joe Biden killed the project within hours of taking his oath of office in 2021 — a decision the America First Policy Institute indicated deprived nearly 60,000 people of direct and indirect construction and engineering jobs.

Turner noted in a Tuesday article in the Federalist that the same Democratic politicians and liberal media outfits now bemoaning the Trump administration for firing scores of bureaucrats then celebrated Biden's elimination of tens of thousands of pipeline jobs.

After 12 years of runarounds from Democrats and activist judges stateside, TC Energy finally threw up its hands in June 2021 and officially canceled the project. Alberta later filed for damages, citing the Biden administration's alleged breach of Canadian-U.S. trade agreements.

Turner told Blaze News that Biden "didn't just stop a pipeline. He put the faith and credit of the United States government in question when it comes to these types of projects going forward. I can't blame the operators of Keystone or any other company who doesn't trust the American government now for anything that's going to take more than one presidential term."

There are, however, two possible fixes that could restore private sector companies' confidence, suggested Turner.

"One, they should figure out some sort of bonding mechanism where the government floats a bond for the equivalent construction costs, and they are willing to forfeit the bond if they withdraw their permissions," said Turner. "If you did something like that where the government said, 'Look, we'll sign this contract to set aside or to reimburse you if we change permission,' well now you tie the hands of the future president — you let the government know if they reverse course, there are financial hardships."

Accordingly, if a Democratic president harboring the same climate alarmist sensibilities as Obama and Biden were to take office in 2028, then such a bonding mechanism would protect companies and regional stakeholders from losing billions of dollars in a White House-canceled project as the TC Energy and Alberta had with the KXL.

Turner noted that another potential fix would entail Congress reclaiming the authority the U.S. State Department now wields over pipelines that cross borders.

"Congress can just reclaim that authority and say, 'You know, this is something for the Commerce Committee, something for Senate Committee on Foreign Relations," said Turner. "Congress can put in the legislative fix so that it is the American people, through their legislators, who approve such permits moving forward."

Without such fixes, Turner suggested the risk for companies of sinking billions of dollars into projects that an ideologue could unilaterally annul with the flick of a pen is simply not worth it.

"It's going to take more than just President Trump saying let's start it up again. It's going to take an act of government to guarantee people that this will not happen again," said the energy advocate.

Until then, "It's easier to build a refinery in Dubai or China. It's easier to open up in Venezuela or somewhere else — the North Sea."

Bloomberg reported that South Bow Corp., the oil business spun off from TC Energy, indicated it is not interested in a revival of the project, especially since key permits have expired.

A spokeswoman for the company said the company has "moved on from the Keystone XL project."

Blaze News reached out to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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Critics memory-hole aerial chemical dumps when attacking Canadian politician for chemtrail comments



Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is frequently attacked in the Canadian media for her conservatism and her antagonism of the Trudeau government. This week, however, she was targeted for answering a constituent's question about chemtrails.

In their rush to condemn Smith for supposedly "sowing fears" and engaging with "conspiracy theorists," critics and other political opportunists glossed over at least one good reason why Canadians might suspect that planes are dumping toxic chemicals over their heads — namely the fact that the Pentagon has a history of doing just that.

Prairie chemtrails

During a recent United Conservative Party town hall in Edmonton, an audience member asked Smith about the occurrence of chemtrails over Alberta. Smith indicated that she did some asking around but has yet to see any evidence confirming public or private operations that would qualify.

'If anyone is doing it, it's the U.S. Department of Defense.'

Chemtrails refer to the theory that governments or other groups use airplanes to dump toxic chemicals or biological agents into the atmosphere, which appear as lingering condensation trails.

At temperatures below 45°F, contrails — usually the result of soot particulate from jet fuel and water vapor freezing — cannot evaporate again and typically end up persisting until dispersed by the wind. Although there are multiple versions of the chemtrails theory, some of which reference the 1996 Pentagon study "Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025," the suggestion is there is a malevolence behind these puffy contrails.

"The best I have been able to do is talk to the woman who is responsible for controlling the airspace, and she says no one is allowed to go up and spray anything in the air," said Smith. "The other person told me that if anyone is doing it, it's the U.S. Department of Defense."

Although apparently open to conducting a formal investigation, Smith intimated that it would ultimately be a federal undertaking.

"I have some limitations in what I can do in my job," said Smith. "I don't know that I would have much power if that is the case, if the U.S. Department of Defense is spraying us."

The premier's office said in a statement to Global News:

The premier has heard concerns from many Albertans about this topic. In response, the provincial government looked into the issue and found no evidence of chemtrails occurring in Alberta. The premier was simply sharing what she has heard from some folks over the summer on this issue. She was not saying that she believed the U.S. government was using chemtrails in Alberta.

A spokesman for NORAD and U.S. Northern Command told the Canadian press in a statement, "NORAD and U.S. Northern Command are not conducting any flight activities in Canada that involve the spraying of chemicals."

Although she denied having seen any evidence of chemtrails, Smith was still attacked for daring to even broach the subject.

Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the leftist University of Alberta's School of Public Health, told Global News, "The premier is making room for and, I would argue, legitimizing a conspiracy theory."

"She could have said, 'Look, I hear your concerns but the reality is that this is not true,'" added Caufield.

Trudeau cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault similarly attacked the premier, telling reporters, "I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that Premier Smith is using her office to peddle conspiracy theories."

Nathan Ip, a member of Alberta's socialist NDP, joined his fellow travelers in mischaracterizing Smith's remarks, telling the Canadian Press it was "truly horrifying to see the premier of Alberta spread conspiracy theories."

'They said they were testing what they characterized as a chemical fog.'

Operation LAC

While the likes of Caufield, Boissonnault, and Ip appear keen to reject the possibility of aircraft dumping chemicals overhead, there is precedent in their province.

Over a decade ago, St. Louis Community College sociology professor Lisa Martino-Taylor obtained U.S. Army documents through a Freedom of Information Act request revealing that in the mid-1950s, the Army used motorized blowers atop the roof of a low-income housing high-rise in St. Louis to test whether a chemical fog could shield ground targets from aerial observation. The fluorescent material blown into the poor neighborhood was zinc cadmium sulfide, reported the Associated Press.

This test was not an isolated case.

'In principle, spraying an aerosol chemical mist over a populated area is criminal.'

Additional classified documents obtained by Martino-Taylor indicated that between July 9, 1954, and Aug. 1, 1953, six kilograms of zinc cadmium sulfide were sprayed in aerosol clouds over the unsuspecting city of Winnipeg via U.S. Army aircraft, reported the National Post.

This was part of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps' broader Operation LAC.

"In Winnipeg, they said they were testing what they characterized as a chemical fog to protect Winnipeg in the event of a Russian attack," said Martino-Taylor. "They characterized it as a defensive study when it was actually an offensive study."

"In principle, spraying an aerosol chemical mist over a populated area is criminal, to say the least," pharmacologist Frank LaBella told the Winnipeg Free Press. "At the time, there were no reports of illness but, if present, they could not be distinguished from other illnesses. If there were lasting effects, we'll never know."

Just over a decade later, aircraft conducted similar chemical dumps over the Albertan cities of Suffield and Medicine Hat, according to Martino-Taylor.

When the U.S. Army returned in 1964 for yet another chemical dump, Canadian officials expressed concern that an "American aircraft was emitting distinctly visible emissions."

A visible stream of toxic chemicals trailing out of a government aircraft engaged in a secret military experiment would likely qualify as a not-so theoretical chemtrail.

A bigger umbrella

Lewis Brackpool, an independent journalist and the host of the podcast "The State of It," told Blaze News, "I believe that we shouldn't be using the term 'Chemtrails' anymore as it carries a lot of toxic baggage (ironically) and is just an easy way for the media class to shut down the conversation and dismiss someone as a crank or a conspiracy theorist, similar to when people use the term 'the great replacement' instead of 'replacement migration.'"

Brackpool suggested that to open the conversation to the wider public and overcome the stigma, alternative terms, such as "climate engineering" or "geo-engineering," might be prudent.

After all, some of the renewed interest in chemtrails has been driven in part by recent controversies over governmental and private efforts to meddle with the weather and alter the skies, such as cloud seeding and solar radiation management.

Cloud seeding is the controversial weather modification technique whereby aircraft, rockets, cannons, or ground generators release various chemicals and tiny particles, such as potassium chloride, into clouds in an effort to artificially increase precipitation.

Like the U.S., the United Arab Emirates has conducted cloud-seeding missions for decades. The Gulf state's National Center of Meteorology reportedly conducts more than 1,000 hours of cloud-seeding missions every year, using aircraft equipped with hygroscopic flares full of nucleating agents.

Blaze News previously noted that a government meteorologist blamed the cloud seeding operations when Dubai was rocked in April by the heaviest downpour in 75 years and fatal flooding. The government subsequently denied responsibility.

Cloud seeding has proven fatal before.

Blackpool noted that declassified documents show that the Royal Air Force experimented with artificial rainmaking as part of Operation Cumulus the same week that some of the worst flash floods to have ever hit Britain stormed the village of Lynmouth, killing 35.

In addition to cloud seeding, some groups are feeding chemtrail theorists' suspicions by openly plotting to pollute the stratosphere with sulfur dioxide in hopes of replicating the effects of volcanic eruptions on blocking sunlight and lowering global mean temperatures.

The MIT Technology Review reported that last year, researchers in the U.K. used a high-altitude weather balloon to dump sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. Their use of "Stratospheric Aerosol Transport and Nucleation" or SATAN balloon systems was allegedly "an engineering proof-of-concept test, not an environmentally perturbative experiment."

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