By Marc Snelling
The distance between the Trump regime and the American people continues to grow, as the United States and Canada are set to renegotiate their trade pact. Trump’s fellow Epstein Island visitor Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently offered his insightful analysis of the deep ties between the countries saying of Canada “they suck.” Lutnick is following Trump’s lead who earlier stated “We don’t need anything from Canada.”
Headlines in Canada are being made with foreign support being uncovered in Alberta’s proposed referendum over separation. Many have likened the Trump regime support for Alberta separatism with the disinformation campaign from the Putin regime in Ukraine’s Donbas region leading up to the Ukraine-Russian War. Trump minion, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking of Alberta said “they want sovereignty, they want what the US has got.”
While regime officials run their mouths the American people, particularly in the States that border Canada, have been singing an entirely different tune. The Trump Slump continues unabated with Canadian’s boycott of American tourism and products growing. The boycott is not easily reversed by government action on either side of the border as it is a grassroots effort.
Unfortunately this boycott is having an outsized effect on American communities close to the border.
Perhaps regime officials thought the multi-billion dollar loss in revenue for American businesses would rally regular citizens to their message of hatred for what they label the “51 st State.” It is proving to be quite the opposite. Canadians don’t even need to respond to these comments as many Americans are doing it for them.
New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen had the opportunity to question Lutnick as he appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee asking “How does insulting our closest ally and neighbor help the businesses in my state of New Hampshire and states around the country that are hurting because of the loss of Canadian business and tourism?”. Unsurprisingly Lutnick had no answer, only more insults and rhetoric. She followed up saying “I find your rhetoric insulting to the people in my state who are working so hard to try and ensure they can do business.”
Maine Governor Janet Mills has launched cross-border efforts to win back the state’s half a billion dollar Canadian tourism trade that dropped by 27% last year. Her efforts have even included bilingual French-English signs at all Maine’s border crossing welcoming Canadians.
The efforts have made little to no difference with the Maine chamber of commerce predicting no change this year. The damage has been done by White House officials and only a change there will effect numbers.
As big a drop as Maine has experienced it is not the worst. The state of Washington has seen an even bigger drop in tourism that has begun to result in shuttered business. One border community that is suffering more than others is the 5 square mile enclave of Point Roberts. Cut by the border along the 49th parallel, the small community has long been reliant on Canada for utilities and services, with no land connection to the rest of the State. The severity of their economic crisis, first from COVID, then Trump, has led to residents of Point Roberts calling for Canada to annex their land.
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura recently made a similar call for his state. Appearing on a news program he stated, “Since Trump dislikes Minnesota so bad and we’re so out of control, let’s join Canada. Instead of Canada becoming the 51 st State of America, and lose their healthcare, like they said, they would never do that because they would lose their healthcare. I’d like to see Minnesota, all of us, become Canadians and make this part of Canada, because it’s obvious Donald Trump don’t want us.”
While Ventura’s remarks are clearly designed to generate headlines and are not part of a detailed plan to secede from the union, he touches on a point. Minnesota culture arguably has more in common with Canada than much of the US. The cold climate, love of hockey and ice fishing, and the same cultural stereotype of ‘Minnesota Nice’ are all factors that lead to the state being jokingly referred to as the ‘11th Province’ and ‘Canada’s southernmost province’. Like Washington, Minnesota has an enclave — The Northwest Angle that has no land connection to the rest of the State.
In the case of Point Roberts the talk is serious. Trump has called the international border an “artificially drawn line” and many there agree. They point to the former Texas town of Rio Rico that was moved to Mexico in 1970 by a redrawing of the border as precedent for their community. The community relies on British Columbia for it’s electricity, water, and emergency services. A large proportion of it’s residents are Canadian-US dual-citizens.
The number of US citizens seeking Canadian citizenship has recently sky-rocketed, as Canada changed its immigration rules to allow applications for citizenship by descent for those who have a Canadian great-grandparent. This makes Canadian citizenship newly available to millions of Americans with Canadian ancestors, particularly in the Northeast. Immigration lawyers are currently inundated with requests from Americans for whom Trump’s rhetoric has not only fallen flat, but motivated a backup plan or an outright move.
Perhaps no event illustrates the American people’s true feelings more than a recent playoff hockey game in New York. In a game between two American teams, the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins, on American soil, the Canadian national anthem was still sung. When singer Cami Clune’s wireless microphone cut out during her performance of the anthem, the crowd stepped in with thousands of fans in Buffalo singing O Canada themselves.
