By Jim Foston, Founder, The Foston Group – SafeWork Consulting Inc.
I have spent my professional life in public safety and security. My career has spanned Military National Defence, serving as a 911 Manager and Trainer for the RCMP focused on community safety, and working as a private security trainer in the commercial and industrial sectors.
In every one of those roles—whether military, police, or private sector—the core mission is the same: you must know the layout of the building to protect it. You must understand the environment to survive in it.
Today, I am looking at the most significant “building” of all—our country—and I see a massive security breach in progress.
The Threat from the South. The recently released United States National Security Strategy (November 2025) is not just a political document. It is a takeover notice. The “Trump Corollary” effectively treats Canada not as a sovereign partner, but as a resource annex for the United States.
If Prime Minister Carney’s government cannot hold the line against this pressure, Canada as we know it—sovereign, independent, and distinct—is effectively over.
The Blind Spot in Our Defences. In public safety, the most dangerous threat is the one you don’t recognize. My concern is that Canadians under forty do not see this threat.
I fear that many young Canadians look south and see only “cheaper housing” or “higher wages.” They do not know the cost. They do not realize that the United States is a fundamentally different machine, one that does not value the collective safety net, the peace, and the social order that we have built here.
If you are 25 or 30 years old today, you might think Canada is just “America Lite.” You might be willing to trade your passport for a slightly bigger paycheck.
A Failure of Education is a Failure of Security. This is not your fault. It is a failure of our education system and our integration policies. We have failed to teach you what Canada is, so naturally, you don’t know why it is worth fighting for.
We are not teaching our history. We are not teaching the struggle. We are not teaching the sheer grit it took to resist “Manifest Destiny” for 158 years.
Note for the Next Generation: What is “Manifest Destiny”? You may hear this phrase and think it is ancient history. It isn’t. In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was the widely held American belief that the United States was destined by God to expand its dominion across the entire North American continent—from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic.
They believed it was their divine right to absorb Canada. The only reason the United States does not control the entire continent today is because previous generations of Canadians—through diplomacy, grit, and occasionally force—refused to submit to that “destiny.”
The 2025 National Security Strategy is simply Manifest Destiny 2.0. The language has changed, but the goal—total continental dominance—has not.
The Fix: Situational Awareness. In my security courses, I evaluate students on their ability to read a situation. I believe every Canadian student and new immigrant should be assessed on the same basis, regardless of their country.
They should be required to watch and study “Canada: A People’s History.” They need to see that this country wasn’t an accident. It was a fight.
If we do not know our story, we will be absorbed by a neighbour who is very loud about theirs.
My Message to the Next Generation: You are the guards now. This is your watch.
Don’t let your inheritance be stolen because you didn’t know its value. If you do not stand up for Canadian sovereignty now—if you do not back the efforts to keep our borders and our economy distinct—you will eventually rue the day you let it slip away.
Proper security isn’t just about fences and cameras. It’s about knowing who you are.
Recommended Viewing
If you want to understand what we are fighting to protect, I urge you to watch this series. It is the definitive story of our survival.
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Watch for Free on CBC Gem: https://gem.cbc.ca/canada-a-peoples-history
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Watch on YouTube: You can also find many full episodes and segments on the CBC’s official YouTube history playlists by searching “Canada A People’s History.”