Former MP Charlie Angus planned a quiet retirement. Now, he'd rather 'kick at the darkness'
Longtime NDP MP takes 'shit disturber' ethos across the country — and to YouTube
Sitting in Ottawa's Rainbow Bistro, preparing for his band to play a gig, former MP Charlie Angus was reflecting on the past year. His plan to quietly retire and write a book turned into creating viral videos viewed around the world and a cross-Canada tour to fight Donald Trump.
A few months ago, Angus was preparing to wrap up a run of nearly 21 years as NDP MP for the northern Ontario riding of Timmins-James Bay and had begun researching the 1930's era in towns like Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Rouyn-Noranda for a book. He had just gotten to the end of 1938 and the rise of fascism when U.S. President Donald Trump was re-elected.
"I think I was one of the first people to come out and start using terms like the fascist threat," Angus recalled. "I've been living this in my research and suddenly it was there before me."
Angus knew that his time in Parliament was coming to an end so he decided to use his final speeches to talk about the threat he saw to democracy.
"I decided very quickly that I wasn't going to spend any more time in Parliament. I didn't know how much time I had, but I wasn't going to spend another minute asking dumb questions about bills that nobody was paying attention to. I was going to start to try and put on the record what was happening because I felt the threat was very, very serious, given what was happening with Putin, given what was happening in Europe, and then Trump."
'People started stopping me on the street'
Little did Angus know, MeidasTouch News, a popular U.S.-based news site that has been critical of Trump, was watching. It started posting some of those speeches.
"People started stopping me on the street … the bus on [Ottawa's] Elgin stopped in the middle of the street and the bus driver gave me a shout out," said Angus. "I couldn't figure out what was going on."
Angus's speeches — meant for the historical record — touched a chord with Canadians.
"What really struck me was that people really saw the nature of the threat. Ordinary Canadians saw threat and, for some reason, I was one of the voices speaking up."
"So, it's full-time work. That's what I do all the time now."
In January, while still an MP, Angus began a Substack called The Resistance with columns that stand up for Canada, warn about the risk of Trump's administration and, as Angus says, "kick at the darkness."
Angus began a Resistance tour, criss-crossing Canada from coast to coast, talking about the dangers Canada was facing and that it was going to get worse — but that the Canadian people had the power to resist.
On Labour Day, Angus launched MeidasCanada, featuring YouTube videos commenting on the news of the day – part rant, part op-ed and often featuring the kind of language Canadians are unlikely to hear on mainstream television airwaves.
Nearly four months later, MeidasCanada's YouTube channel has more than 206,000 subscribers. That's well shy of the 570,000 subscribers Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has built up over the past 14 years but far more than the 24,000 to Prime Minister Mark Carney's channel over the past 10 months.
While some videos have attracted only a few thousand views, Angus's takedown in August of Maine state Sen. Joseph Martin, who wrote a letter to Canada's western premiers suggesting they apply to become U.S. states, has garnered more than 585,000 views and more than 12,000 comments — numbers many Canadian politicians can only dream about.
Sitting in the Rainbow, Angus doesn't mince words about the threat he believes lies ahead.
"Is it the idea that this is going to go back to normal in the [U.S.] midterms? That world is gone. It's gone forever."
Angus says when Trump was elected, the first thing that came to mind were the words of Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci: The old world is dying, and a new world is struggling to be born, but we are now in the age of monsters.
"I'm not a student of Gramsci, but this is what we're in," Angus said. "We're facing the threat to democracy. We're facing the threat to international institutions [that are] stressed in a way they've never been before. We're facing a threat to our border, which is very real. What we're dealing with are monster oligarchs, and nobody's coming to save us. Nobody's going to come up with a great trade deal, and nobody's going to figure this out up top.
"But I believe that ordinary Canadians understand the mission, and I've got a lot of hope for Canadians."
Angus said Canadians have moved from a sense of panic and urgency in January and February to "a determination to be something different."
"Canadians aren't just wanting to hold the line now. It's like we can be a better country. We can have a vision. If we can pull billions of dollars out of the American economy by just deciding to do that, then we can decide where to put those billions. And we could build resilient communities," he said.
"I think that's what Canadians want."
Carney's 'runway' to make mistakes is limited
Angus said Canadians voted for Carney because they wanted a wartime prime minister to handle the threats to Canada but Carney has to remember that they voted for a prime minister — not a CEO.
"I think Mark Carney is doing some very interesting and powerful things, but he also has to be super careful," said Angus. "He doesn't really understand Canadian politics."
One example, he says, is the Indigenous file and the need for consultation.
"That could come back to haunt him. We are in a minority government. What I think is that people are going to give the prime minister a lot of leeway but he doesn't have a lot of runway to make a mistake."
While his new life has kept him on the road much of the year – speaking to town hall meetings across Canada, writing columns, filming videos and playing gigs with his band The Grievous Angels, Angus is enjoying his life after Parliament.
"I'm having a blast. I love this country. I love travelling. I love going into these communities," he said.
Despite his newfound popularity, Angus insists he has no plan to once again seek the NDP leadership — or to return to the House of Commons.
"You know, I did 21 years and it was a great honour and I learned a lot of things and now I feel I can help in a different way," said Angus. "I'm a shit disturber. That's what I always was. I don't need to wear a suit as much anymore."
