Last weekend at a National Basketball Association (NBA) game in Toronto between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, the US anthem was uncharacteristically booed. It’s becoming something of a trend in Canada since Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Canadian goods being imported into the US, a plan put on hold for a month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to implement his December plan to spend $1.3 billion on reinforcing the border.
But this hasn’t stopped Trump’s repeated boasts that Canada would benefit from becoming the 51st state. The threatened tariffs are real but the rhetoric about Canada becoming part of its southern neighbour, on the other hand, is utter fantasy. Yet a fantasy that is motivating and provoking Canadians and is particularly damaging to Canada’s conservative party.
Canada’s population is close to 41 million, it’s a major trading nation, part of the G8, has a military that punches well above its weight, and a generally admirable and respected international reputation. Around 70% of the population vote for centre-Left or Left-wing parties, the country has long enjoyed a social democratic culture and a strong welfare system, and almost a quarter of Canadians speak French as their first language.
Canadian foreign policy has more in common with northern Europe than the US, the country is renowned as a peace-keeper rather than a warmonger, it’s part of the Commonwealth with the monarch as its head of state, and has cherished a separate identity from the Americans for 250 years. In fact, what are known as Empire Loyalists, some of the founders of modern Canada, were people who came north during the American Revolution because they insisted on living under the crown.
The country has fully-funded abortion, introduced same-sex marriage as early as 2005, abolished the death penalty in 1976 but had stopped executions some years earlier, has an extensive public broadcasting system, and sees public healthcare as a birth right.
In other words, there is no way that Donald Trump could legally, morally, politically, physically, or practically incorporate Canada into the American union. Apart from the facts and the history, one of Canada’s defining aspects of self-identity is that it’s not American. Not anti-American, that’s too harsh, but certainly non-American.
There are, however, social media calls for the 51st state that are allegedly from Canadians but these posts are more than likely translated from Russian. There’s simply no appetite for any of this even if it were possible. And that puts Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in an unenviable position.
Up until now the leader of the opposition has been dominating the polls, an election has to be held this year, and Liberal leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about to hand over his party to another, likely to be former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.
The problem for Poilievre is that while Carney is able to appear as an economic expert who can fight tariffs, and a Canadian nationalist who detests Trumpian bombast, the Conservatives have lost some of their chosen battleground. They wanted to fight the election on Trudeau’s record, the unpopular carbon tax, and by using their war-cry that “Canada is Broken.” With Trump threatening annexation, cries that the country is already smashed have become politically dangerous, and everything is now about how Canada deals with the bully to the south. That’s a golden opportunity for the Liberals.
There’s also the fact that Poilievre is not only a Conservative but on the Right of the party, and has often been compared with Donald Trump. That’s unfair, and while the Conservative leader would likely cut spending and beef up foreign policy, he’s a thoughtful moderate compared to many of those currently dominating US politics.
There are a few Canadian Right-wingers who flirt with Americanisation but they’re limited in number, eccentric, and extreme. The paradox of all this is that the Canadian right has to condemn the US Right if it’s to be perceived as championing Canada, and is also forced to somehow defend the Liberal as it defends the country’s autonomy. That’s not going to be at all easy.
Just a few weeks ago, Canada’s Conservatives were looking forward not only to an electoral victory, but even to reducing the Liberals to a parliamentary rump. There may still be a victory but it’s not going to be straightforward and it’s no longer the cakewalk it was once considered. How ironic it would be if Donald Trump’s totally unnecessary rants, and rash economic policies, gave the party of Canadian liberalism yet another term in office.
Last weekend at a National Basketball Association (NBA) game in Toronto between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, the US anthem was uncharacteristically booed. It’s becoming something of a trend in Canada since Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Canadian goods being imported into the US, a plan put on hold for a month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to implement his December plan to spend $1.3 billion on reinforcing the border.
But this hasn’t stopped Trump’s repeated boasts that Canada would benefit from becoming the 51st state. The threatened tariffs are real but the rhetoric about Canada becoming part of its southern neighbour, on the other hand, is utter fantasy. Yet a fantasy that is motivating and provoking Canadians and is particularly damaging to Canada’s conservative party.
Canada’s population is close to 41 million, it’s a major trading nation, part of the G8, has a military that punches well above its weight, and a generally admirable and respected international reputation. Around 70% of the population vote for centre-Left or Left-wing parties, the country has long enjoyed a social democratic culture and a strong welfare system, and almost a quarter of Canadians speak French as their first language.
Canadian foreign policy has more in common with northern Europe than the US, the country is renowned as a peace-keeper rather than a warmonger, it’s part of the Commonwealth with the monarch as its head of state, and has cherished a separate identity from the Americans for 250 years. In fact, what are known as Empire Loyalists, some of the founders of modern Canada, were people who came north during the American Revolution because they insisted on living under the crown.
The country has fully-funded abortion, introduced same-sex marriage as early as 2005, abolished the death penalty in 1976 but had stopped executions some years earlier, has an extensive public broadcasting system, and sees public healthcare as a birth right.
In other words, there is no way that Donald Trump could legally, morally, politically, physically, or practically incorporate Canada into the American union. Apart from the facts and the history, one of Canada’s defining aspects of self-identity is that it’s not American. Not anti-American, that’s too harsh, but certainly non-American.
There are, however, social media calls for the 51st state that are allegedly from Canadians but these posts are more than likely translated from Russian. There’s simply no appetite for any of this even if it were possible. And that puts Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in an unenviable position.
Up until now the leader of the opposition has been dominating the polls, an election has to be held this year, and Liberal leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about to hand over his party to another, likely to be former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.
The problem for Poilievre is that while Carney is able to appear as an economic expert who can fight tariffs, and a Canadian nationalist who detests Trumpian bombast, the Conservatives have lost some of their chosen battleground. They wanted to fight the election on Trudeau’s record, the unpopular carbon tax, and by using their war-cry that “Canada is Broken.” With Trump threatening annexation, cries that the country is already smashed have become politically dangerous, and everything is now about how Canada deals with the bully to the south. That’s a golden opportunity for the Liberals.
There’s also the fact that Poilievre is not only a Conservative but on the Right of the party, and has often been compared with Donald Trump. That’s unfair, and while the Conservative leader would likely cut spending and beef up foreign policy, he’s a thoughtful moderate compared to many of those currently dominating US politics.
There are a few Canadian Right-wingers who flirt with Americanisation but they’re limited in number, eccentric, and extreme. The paradox of all this is that the Canadian right has to condemn the US Right if it’s to be perceived as championing Canada, and is also forced to somehow defend the Liberal as it defends the country’s autonomy. That’s not going to be at all easy.
Just a few weeks ago, Canada’s Conservatives were looking forward not only to an electoral victory, but even to reducing the Liberals to a parliamentary rump. There may still be a victory but it’s not going to be straightforward and it’s no longer the cakewalk it was once considered. How ironic it would be if Donald Trump’s totally unnecessary rants, and rash economic policies, gave the party of Canadian liberalism yet another term in office.