In the summer of 1983, when I was a young, strapping 19-year-old Canadian boy living in Winnipeg, my buddies and I made our annual pilgrimage to Grand Forks, North Dakota. While there, I could cross the bridge in town and enter East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Yes, it was smaller, but the drinking age was 19 as compared to 21 in North Dakota, and the booze was cheap. As long as we put it in the trunk, unopened, I could legally bring it back to Canada (the drinking age in Manitoba was 18).
The motel we stayed in was known to Canadians as pretty lax in the law department. We were free to drink as long as we were respectful and polite and didn’t make much noise. The owner was chill and often joined us for a beer or two. And it was on this particular occasion that he started pontificating about politics and borders, specifically theirs and ours. He proclaimed that the two countries should consider combining. We could call it Canada, he said, and we could adopt their constitution. My friends were more or less intrigued by the possibilities, but not me. For my age, I was reasonably astute about politics (my father, a man who spent 23 years serving in the military, was highly patriotic and had passed that on to me), and given that the beer had begun to hit me, I chose that moment to point out a few things from my perspective. Those who know me know that I like to talk about politics and patriotism, perhaps too much. It can get me into hot water.
Because of that discussion and ensuing argument, we packed up the next morning and returned to Winnipeg, one day early, and a car full of fuming friends who were giving me all kinds of looks.
Lately, the U.S. president-elect has foolishly been bandying about annexing Canada. So, this isn’t new. Since the American Revolution, the U.S. has had its eyes turned north, knowing that we were a large land, free for the picking. As their politics took hold of their society, they went to war with Great Britain, and from 1812 to 1815, they did their best to take the North. By 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed and then ratified in Congress in 1815, and that was that. The war significantly impacted Canada, contributing to a growing sense of national identity. In 1861, the American Civil War began, pitting the North versus the South, mainly due to economic differences, the humanitarian issue of slavery, State vs Federal rights, and many issues that decimated their economy and distracted them from looking north. So it’s no surprise that we became the nation of Canada in 1867.
Let’s put a pin in that for a second. I would be remiss at this point not talking about the Indigenous population and making a land acknowledgment. I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are living. I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Aboriginal Elders of other communities who may be here today. I know the words sound somewhat hollow, but my Indigenous friends, for which I have many, deserve the respect that for so many years they have been denied.
So. It is no secret as to why the U.S. covets our country. We have resources. We have lots of land, oil, space, and, most importantly, water. We have a very low population density and are generally pacifists who want to just ‘be.’ Of course, their politics have bled into our society. Never before have we seen the divide in Canada today, which is small potatoes compared to the extreme division south of our border. But, like a cancer, it is spreading.
Trump’s new cabinet has 13 billionaires to date. One of them is the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk. That’s a problem. Billionaires become billionaires by making money, obviously, and to keep that money, they need to produce even more. They have divested in every part of the economy. They employ hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Most have indicated that they are MAGA-focused and are saying they want to bring more manufacturing back to their country to placate the voters. They will require raw resources to accomplish this. It’s just a fact. They wield immense buying power.
What he says and would love to accomplish is as insulting as it comes. Canada is not a toy. As a nation, we are younger, almost 100 years younger. When we became a nation, notice that we did not emulate the constitution that the U.S. has. We have roughly 12% of their population. The land area of Canada is 3 855, 103 square miles compared to America’s 3 794, 083, making Canada 1.6% larger than the States.
This incoming administration is very different than when he took office in 2017. Back then, the people he hired were competent, and many did their best to keep the ship from sinking. For 4 years, he kept firing people who would not fall in line. For the last 4 years, he has fought all the lawsuits against him, mostly successfully, running out the clock on the Department of Justice and making a mockery of their constitution. But he didn’t do this alone. Millions of people contributed to his legal defence, especially many ultra-wealthy conservatives bent on re-writing history and putting this pathetic man-child back in office. Anyone with a brain, and being honest, can see he is woefully lacking for the position considered the most powerful in the world. Except now, he will be surrounded by acolytes ready to change their system to enrich themselves further. All they had to do was ‘own the Libs’ keeping their cult-like grip on a populace that relishes seeing a game-show host do things that give them maximum entertainment value.
So, we are left to wonder: are they serious about annexing Canada? And Greenland? And Panama? Well, if you have doubts, remember that 4 years ago, MAGA threw a riot to overturn a free and fair election, and instead of putting Trump in jail, they have put him in the chair with even more power than before. The Supreme Court is undoubtedly defending him. The Republican Party is absolutely in his pocket, as this band of Handmaid’s Tale enthusiasts want to dial back rights to the 1950s and further control the populace. It is mind-boggling that millions of people have fallen into line in such a short time. We even have our own Maple Magas here in Canada. Fortunately, our political system does not allow our Prime Minister the same power as their President, at least for now.
I am not trying to be alarmist. What I have done is laid out simple facts, logic, and my own conjecture. However, never in my lifetime has the possibility of such a huge impactful change in our society been presented before our very eyes, and honestly, it is very much out of our control. And I, for one, am not comfortable with that.
Bill's Musings 