The code among politicians from neighboring friendly nations is that they generally do not get involved in commenting on each other's internal politics.  While media pundits and citizens acting in their private capacity are free to offer their opinions, politicians typically refrain from clear insults because of the damage it could do to international relations if the party they are attacking is elected to office.

The premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall, broke this code when he offered his views to the media on the campaign of Republican presidential contender Donald Trump:

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall refuses to contemplate how the provincial government would work with its southern neighbour if controversial Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected president of the United States.

'We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, because I have great hope that that hypothetical will never happen,' Wall told reporters Monday in Saskatoon.

He described Trump's campaign -- which has included promises to build a wall along the Mexico-United States border, bring back waterboarding and deport Muslims from the country -- as 'absolutely terrible.'

'It's hard to believe that it's garnering the kind of support that it is,' Wall said. 'Canadians are watching a bit dumbfounded that there's actually a politician who's gaining some sort of modicum of success by the things he's saying and what he's offering.'

Wall has been repeatedly mentioned as a potential successor to replace former prime minister Stephen Harper as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.  No stranger to controversy himself, videos of Wall were released several years ago showing him mocking Ukrainian Canadians, causing great concern among this immigrant community.

Just last week, conservative media commentator Conrad Black – a regular contributor to such outlets as National Review – also said the United States has "turned into a nation of idiots" in a recent article from one of Canada's national newspapers.

On a related note, well-known Canadian conservative agitator Ezra Levant's website, The Rebel, featured an article by David Swindle last May in which he referred to American Thinker as part of "The Ridiculous Right: Crazy Crackpot Conspiracist Conservatives" (along with WorldNetDaily, Infowars, the Free Republic, and Canada Free Press) and said readers should "[b]eware of the facts reported on the five sites above [which included American Thinker], which are known for popularizing conspiracy theories."

Looks like the battle is heating up both between and within regions of the political spectrum.