Re: Tumultuous times with Trump — Derek H. Burney, Feb. 19; and Trump waved a 1908 treaty as ammo in his disputes with Canada — Adrian Humphreys, Feb. 17

U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated utterings that Canada should become the 51st state should be taken seriously. We are first in the world in potash, second in uranium, third in oil, fifth in natural gas, hold 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water, have the longest coastline, an overwhelming abundance of arable land and forest acreage, and with our under-resourced military, are effectively unable to defend ourselves. But for the U.S. being next door, we would long ago been under control by Russia or China.