The following is the opinion
and analysis of the writer:
Ronald Eustice
The United States is fortunate to share its borders with friendly neighbors. Imagine if our nearest neighbors were North Korea, Iran, China or heaven forbid, Russia. We have no fear that armies from Canada or Mexico will suddenly attack our country.
We have the world’s longest undefended border with Canada, with whom we have closely cooperated for well over a century. That’s why many are confused and perplexed with President Trump’s unapologetic quest to ridicule and eventually conquer Canada — an effort he said in January would be conducted by “economic force.” The result has been a disintegration of the relationship between the U.S. and one of our closest allies, and a stock market plunge over fears of ever-increasing escalation of a trade war. Most thought the president was joking when he called Trudeau “Governor” during a visit in November. After that visit, Trump publicly floated the notion of absorbing Canada as our 51st state. Few think he’s joking now, and the Canadians have stopped laughing.
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On March 4, 2025, President Trump launched a trade war, announcing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, with energy and critical minerals facing a 10 percent tariff. Since then, Trump changed the equation on everything from autos to potash, with Canada’s retaliatory measures ramping up in response. Canadians have boycotted American products, and tourism has tanked as thousands of Canadians canceled reservations at Sunbelt destinations. Mexico and the Caribbean have become more friendly destinations. Next week, Trump plans to implement another series of tariffs. No doubt, there will be further Canadian retaliation. The latest salvo is starting April 11th, as a further insult, Canadian visitors to the US who remain over 30 days must register and be fingerprinted.
No doubt, President Trump will continue to implement tariffs and speak about taking over Canada because it gets such a rise out of Canadians, he enjoys the attention and the ability to exert power, even if only through unrealistic threats. Trump loves a fight, and his rabble-rousing rhetoric appeals to his worshipping base.
Canadians are more polite but seldom back down from a good fight. Incoming Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney recently said, “We’re ready to engage with the U.S. on a comprehensive negotiation — when Canada is shown respect as a sovereign nation.” The Prime Minister is correct; Canadians have been America’s best friends and deserve our gratitude and most of all our respect. Here are a few reasons why:
Immediately following 9/11, there were Canadian fighters patrolling American airspace and hundreds of international flights diverted to Canada in one of the most impressive bi-lateral emergency response actions ever.
American and Canadian forces have fought side by side and died on numerous occasions. There are numerous defense agreements, including the bilateral Ogdensburg Agreement and NORAD as well as the multilateral NATO defense pact.
Canadian and American wildland firefighters spend almost as much time in the other country fighting forest fires as they do their own. When you think they might get a little downtime in the off-season, they all travel to Australia to fight fires there.
Canada takes part in American professional sporting leagues, including the NBA, MLB and of course, the NHL, which has more Canadian players than American ones. The Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019.
We cannot allow real or imagined disagreements prevent us from working together on areas of agreement, especially critical foreign policy issues, including migration, illegal drug enforcement, China, and of course, Russia and Ukraine.
What confounds Republicans about Trump’s idea is that annexing Canada would potentially add millions more Democrats to American voter rolls. Canada is a liberal-leaning nation with a population larger than California. Were Canada to become a state, it could mean 50 more House seats and at least two additional senate seats, resulting in a real power shift in government. Canada’s delegation in the House of Representatives would be huge. How many Electoral College votes would Canada get? The State of Canada (or Canada East and Canada West) would dramatically change the political landscape of the United States of North America.
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Ronald Eustice is a retired international marketing executive and the author of more than 30 books on a variety of topics. He has traveled to more than 90 countries including frequent visits to Canada, and lives in Casas Adobes.
