Opinion
Canada, the true north, strong and free.
More and more, it seems U.S. President Trump truly believes that annexing Canada is a smart move for both countries. I cannot believe that I typed that previous sentence. What the hell is going on in 2025?
Before we get too far I have a confession I need to make. Although I do not believe Canada should be the 51st state or support the concept in the slightest, I have joked about it to American audiences in speeches. Anything to get a laugh, I guess, but in hindsight it feels wrong.
American audiences laugh about it because they feel it’s just as nonsensical as we do. Audiences always ask me about it and it’s easier to address the awkwardness head-on with humour. In the future, whether I am speaking to a crowd, on a podcast, or talking with American friends, I am not gonna “bring greetings from the 51st state.”
It’s not funny anymore and likely wasn’t ever, no matter your sense of humour.
Canada has flaws, opportunities, past achievements, future aspirations, and regrettable failings, like all countries and their citizens. No entity is perfect in reality or construct. Like America, Canada aspires to a better future.
Premier Ford channelled his inner President Trump by having hats stating, “Canada is not for sale.” Meanwhile, I had a server in northern Alberta ask me if I thought President Trump was going to save us [Canada]. President Trump has repeatedly trolled its greatest ally with the “51st state,” “Governor Trudeau,” and the”fake border” talk, feasting on Canadians’ polite, friendly, humble nature.
Canadians now have their “elbows up,” questioning who their real friends are, and a new generation of anti-Americanism is being spawned.
All of this is happening for virtually no other reason than a president entertaining himself and his closest supporters with an idea that is not supported in Canada or America. According to Angus Reid, 60 per cent of Americans say they have no interest in Canada joining, 32 per cent say they are supportive only if Canada is open to the idea.
When Canadian audiences ask me about President Trump’s calls for the 51st state, I tend to turn it back to the crowd and ask them. Depending on where you are in Canada, there are different responses, from “he is joking,” “he is serious,” “he is negotiating,” “he hates Trudeau,” or even that “they will do it with military if they need to.”
Although I know some of you ponder the notion of Canada joining the United States and some of you detest the idea, the threat has hopefully triggered a rallying cry in Canada for the people and the country to be motivated to find improvement and change where there are gaps and poor performance. Time will be the judge of whether that moment is seized.
Many people that support the notion of the 51st state are trapped in current time. Although you may like the idea of a Trump America over the Canadian Liberals, would you feel the same about living in a Biden or Harris America? Will you feel the same if the Conservatives win the next election in Canada?
In my opinion, the more President Trump talks about this idea of Canada being the 51st state, the better it is for Canada overcoming its feud with this president. He did not campaign on this issue, Americans don’t support it, and many of the most MAGA friends I have think it’s nonsense. Unlike some of the president’s wild ideas that eventually float their way to being mainstream, the idea of the 51st state is a dud politically. NBC News ran a story this week about how confused people inside the White House are as to why the president is so fixated on this idea.
With Trudeau gone, the excuse that it was just the president trolling who Trudeau is — a globalist, a climate change fighter, post-nationalist type — is also removed. But if you subtract a key variable like Trudeau and the comments stay, eventually you figure out he is serious.
In some U.S. media appearances I will talk about the plot of the 1995 John Candy comedy, “Canadian Bacon.” Sometimes satire is too real, I guess. I had ChatGPT create a table compare the movie plot to today’s real life events:
The United States is the largest economy in the world; Canada is the ninth largest, behind Italy. It’s been advantageous for Canada to be adjacent to the U.S.; it’s also prevented Canada from having its own strategy at times. Canada is also repeatedly a pawn in the geopolitical chess game between China and the United States. Canadians don’t need to look and further than the American-requested EV tariffs and the recent China tariffs on canola meal and oil, pork, peas and aquaculture products.
A big farm and a smaller farm can thrive in adjacency. They might share intel, swap land, lend equipment or any other imaginable business cooperation, but they keep their own corporate sovereignty. The smaller farm may not get all of the attention or or have the newest equipment, but it has its own identity and perhaps even advantages over its bigger neighbour. Both are unique but still able to cooperate and have a beer on Saturday evening no matter their differences as they focus on what they have in common instead.
Although the relationship between Canada and the United States is quite strained right now, I’m confident it will survive beyond President Trump. This is no different than Canada existing and thriving post-Trudeau. Don’t give up on America as a neighbour and definitely don’t give up on Canada.
This is Canada. We are not the 51st state.
