America is no longer part of the free world. That is the almost unbearable truth that has emerged over the last two months. For Europe, this turn of events has been and will continue to be a painful loss, necessitating a more or less complete rethinking of their militaries and economic orders.
However, for Canada, the loss of a sane America poses a direct threat to our national survival, as well as a grotesque betrayal of one of the world’s longest-standing peaceful relationships.
For Canadians, Americans are more than just friends, neighbours, and allies; they are family. Americans are our family members, sometimes literally. We awoke to find our cousins openly plotting to enslave us.
Since Trump’s declaration that he wanted to make Canada the “51st State,” the country has been essentially at war. The national unity that Trump has fostered in this country is unprecedented.
Not since the first American Civil War, when their impending breakdown threatened to spill across the border and Canada responded by confederating, has the country been so united.
Political leaders and the people share common goals and strategies. When confronted with a bully, you take your lumps first, then fight back with everything you have got and prepare to suffer.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has threatened not only retaliatory tariffs, but also turning off the power supply to New England, stating, “with a smile on my face”. Ontario is the world’s largest purchaser of alcohol, and all American products have been removed from store shelves.
Today, you cannot buy bourbon in Canada. Consumers and governments are changing their purchasing habits. Canadians are cancelling vacations to the United States. They are letting American produce rot on the shelves.
I admit that I did not believe that the current level of national unity was possible. Canada has a large, racially and linguistically diverse population spread across its vast landmass.
(Baffin Island alone is larger than Britain and Ireland combined, with a population of 13,000.) Until Trump’s recent insanity, our prime minister, Justin Trudeau, had been promoting Canada as “a post-national nation”.
Over the last decade, we have been engaged in constant self-criticism and ideological flagellations about our history. All that nonsense has gone out the window. Liberals and conservatives are completely aligned.
Stephen Harper, the former Conservative prime minister and arguably the most pro-American leader in Canadian history, stated that the country should accept “any level of damage” to protect its sovereignty.
Most astonishingly, Lucien Bouchard, the Quebec separatist leader who came dangerously close to breaking Quebec out of the union in 1995, has spoken out forcefully and passionately about fighting for Canada. We all agree, with complete conviction, that we will not be Americans. Texas currently has more support for separatism than Quebec, which was unthinkable only a few months ago.
However, in America, all futures are now unimaginable. The country we once knew and loved is no longer with us, and it will never return in our lifetimes. Americans cannot be allies. If you fight alongside them, as the British did, they will mock your sons who died by their side.
They cannot be partners. If you make a trade with them, they will discard it like an orange peel once completed.
Any security guarantees they offer are not worth the paper they are written on. We need security guarantees against the United States right now.
The sudden absence of the United States from the free world will reshape the global geopolitical structure. Canada will inevitably move closer to Europe and the United Kingdom, both of which share our fundamental values.
This change is already beginning to show its effects. In general, no one in Canada is particularly interested in the royal family. Charles being on our money is usually a source of resigned embarrassment.
However, the King’s role as head of state is important right now. It did not go unnoticed here that Charles has recently made public appearances dressed as King of Canada, complete with Canadian military honours and decorations. America may be our family, but we call the free world home. We will all have to turn to one another.
Canadians have a strange sense of confidence as they enter this David versus Goliath struggle. We know we will suffer, but we also understand that we must suffer. The bad news is that America is falling apart; the good news, now that they are our enemies, is that America is falling apart. Every day, their global influence dwindles.
They are crashing their own economy. They are causing a cost-of-living crisis within their own borders. They have destroyed their civil service in the name of savings that could amount to as little as $5 billion.
They are dismantling the scientific community. They are dismantling the educational system. They have severely harmed the FBI and CIA. They are dismantling their national institutions one by one. They are currently at about a Brexit per week in terms of self-mutilating policy decisions.
The last two months have only marked the beginning of the chaos that is to come. Threats to national sovereignty have the effect of clarifying the mind. America is a dying star. When a star dies, it can either explode or collapse. In either case, you want to be as far away from the cataclysm as possible. Canada, and the rest of the world, must start running.
