by Tod Maffin
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There’s a story from Franklin the Turtle, a Canadian kids book series, where Franklin and a few friends discover a small hideout – the perfect spot to form a “secret club.”
Excited by the idea, Franklin limits the club to just four members (himself and three buddies), since the space is so small. They make it an exclusive group, which inadvertently leaves out some of his other good friends.
Franklin gets so with excited his club meetings and secret passwords that he forgets about the friends he excluded.
T O D B I T
Franklin was adapted into animated television, inspiring a popular 1997 series and a later CGI series Franklin and Friends.
Rules for others
At the best of times, America is a nation obsessed with itself. Its news sources only point inward, so people grow up without any real sense of how the rest of the world sees them.
Sometimes that view is positive. But far more often, the world sees a country that can’t or won’t see past its own clubhouse door.
When bad things happen to the U.S., it tells its citizens that happens because the world doesn’t like freedom. It is a simple story for a complicated world.
The truth is much less flattering.
What people dislike are bullies. Countries that take what is not theirs. Countries that break rules they expect others to follow, like killing people in international waters because they might have drugs on them.
And then, as predictably as the plot of a bad movie, the U.S. acts surprised, hurt even, when other countries decide to cut America out of the loop. Alliances cool, trade deals move forward without them.
The lesson never learned
In that Franklin story I mentioned, those left-out friends aren’t stupid. They realize they’ve been excluded. So another character, Beaver, responds by starting her own club and pointedly does not invite Franklin, which means Franklin is now the one left out. Only then does he understand what his choices meant.
It would be nice if the people running the U.S. would have that kind of foresight. But they don’t. And honestly, we shouldn’t expect them to. Their prime motivation — the literal point of Project 2025 — was to create two Americas: One for people like them, and one for everyone else.
Not in the club: Brown people. Black people. Nurses. Women. Anyone who doesn’t fit the tidy, fictional story they tell about themselves.
Which of course is why it was especially ironic that the American Secretary of War last month used a Franklin book cover to brag about killing Venezuelans.
The United States is on a deeply dangerous path.
But what it hasn’t yet realized is that the world has already closed ranks and shut them out of the global clubhouse.
Because if the best example the U.S. can find to justify international war crimes is a character who was created to show kids how to do the right thing, that tells you everything you need to know about how little they remember about doing it themselves.
Trivia
Which Canadian folk singer performs the theme song to the children’s television show Franklin, titled “Hey, It’s Franklin!”?
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Last Week:
What You Missed This Week
The Good News 💗
Three B.C. siblings scored the ultimate hall pass, a handwritten late slip from Prime Minister Mark Carney, after meeting him in Prince Rupert while he was speaking with Coastal First Nations.
Billionaires, take notes: The Trevor Project, a U.S. 2SLGBTQ+ youth crisis nonprofit, saw calls spike under Trump while the administration cut its funding, but a $45M donation from MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, gave the organization a lifeline.
A Toronto group is hosting weekly meetups in the underground PATH system to help people connect and build friendships, offering walks, creative activities, and a community space for those whose lives are usually just work and home.
Lost dog found after 54 days: Bami, a four-year-old rescue dog, was reunited with her owners on Vancouver’s North Shore after nearly two months in the wilderness, thanks to local volunteers and community support.
Mattel released its first-ever autistic Barbie, created with guidance from the autistic community to reflect how autistic people may experience, process, and communicate, featuring stimming-friendly joints, a tablet to represent non-verbal children, and sensory-friendly clothing.
Trade Tea 🫖
Sorry… but not sorry: New data shows Canadian travel to the U.S. fell nearly 30% in 2025, as Trump’s tariffs and repeated “51st state” remarks fueled backlash and discouraged cross-border trips.
Snowbirds are breaking up with Florida: A Nova Scotia couple who have owned property in the state since 2011 say they’re selling their southern home after years of wintering there, citing political tensions, and shifting attitudes toward Canadians.
A new poll suggests nearly a third of Canadians believe the United States may try to invade Canada, following the recent U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.
The First Peoples 🪶
Raising roofs: Summit Sisters, a group of First Nations women roofers from across Canada, were in Jamaica this week helping repair roofs and other damage done to housing from Hurricane Melissa last year.
The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs has purchased land near the Bedford Barrens petroglyphs to protect the sacred site from development and ensure public access.
People in New Brunswick will soon be able to swear oaths using eagle feathers instead of a bible in courtrooms across the province.
Science & Discoveries 🔬
Scientists have inaugurated the first global repository for mountain ice cores in Antarctica, where samples from melting glaciers will be preserved at -52°C, safeguarding a frozen record of the Earth’s atmosphere for future research.
Health Canada is boosting vitamin D in milk and margarine after experts found 1 in 5 Canadians aren’t getting enough of the “sunshine” vitamin, mainly due to limited sunlight exposure.
Fyre Festival, but on the moon: A California startup is taking $1 million deposits to book a future stay at what it claims will be the world’s first hotel on the moon, called GRU, set to open by 2032.
Across Canada 📍
Bagged milk in Canada is causing a stir online, as a Government of Canada post celebrating National Milk Day shows milk served in soft plastic bags, a concept that continues to baffle Americans.
Your couch > ER waiting room: New Brunswick’s health minister is considering a pilot that would let some non-urgent ER patients wait at home, inspired by the Sault Area Hospital’s virtual home waiting room in Northern Ontario, which sends texts when it’s time to go in and could reduce long wait times.
A Kitchener, Ontario, family is searching for the Good Samaritan who performed CPR on their stepdad, Ron Snook, on New Year’s Eve, which let them say their final goodbyes.
The Great Canadian Baking Show is casting home bakers nationwide for its 10th season with open calls in six cities. Those looking to audition can find out more here.
Heated Rivalry 🔥
Heated Rivalry heats up the charts: The Canadian LGBTQ+ hockey romance Heated Rivalry taking the world by storm is putting homegrown talent on the global stage, with episode 5 earning near-perfect IMDb scores and being called one of the best episodes of TV ever, drawing comparisons to Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.
Tourism bait: Canadian tourism boards are leaning into the fandom, spotlighting filming locations as must-visit spots for fans.
Ottawa Tourism recently changed its social media bio to say "birthplace of Shane Hollander," a nod to the capital being the fictional character's hometown.
Destination Ontario highlighted six key spots, mostly in Hamilton, including FirstOntario Concert Hall (Major League Hockey Awards), Dundurn Castle (Moscow), and restaurants Ciao Bella and Le Tambour Tavern.
Muskoka Tourism is luring fans to “come to the cottage” where Shane’s lakefront home was filmed at Barlochan Cottage.
Canada’s Market This Week
Royal Bank | |
TD Bank | |
Enbridge | |
ScotiaBank | |
Bank of Montreal | |
CP Rail | |
Shopify | |
Canadian Tire | |
Loblaws | |
Tim Hortons (RBI) | |
Dollarama | |
Rogers |