One joke is one thing, two jokes are another, And five or more jokes about the same thing begin to send a message. Incoming President Donald Trump's quips now appear more sinister and serious when it comes to annexing and effectively absorbing Canada as the coined “51st State”.
Over the past few weeks Trump has openly posted on various social media outlets and spoken in interviews flouting the idea that Canada could be annexed not by military force, but “by economic force.” Essentially, Trump appears to be sending a message to us that our current leadership is disrespected.
Has he crossed a sacred and unwritten line? In my opinion, absolutely.
There is something icky about our historically closest friend belittling our nation by calling our Prime Minister a governor and referring to the sovereign country of Canada as the state of Canada multiple times.
Let's step back and put this into perspective for a moment. We have a NATO country picking on one of its teammates in broad daylight. Trump is threatening us economically through unrealistically bombastic tariffs. But he is also stirring the pot in a deeper way that is harder to quantify. He is psychologically toying with us by inciting people like me to do exactly what I'm doing now - talking about it and getting my Canadian blood boiling.
Here's what disturbs me.
Can you imagine if any other country's leader - friend or foe of the USA - referred to Trump by a title other than “President” and to the USA as something other than an independent country? Trump would become inconceivably offended and push back with the defiance of a wailing toddler.
What makes the situation even more uncanny is that those comments came from a relationship we have always felt was safely secure.
There's a big difference between someone you love calling you a loser versus a random person at a bar saying the same thing, It hits closer to home and has a deeper and more cutting impact. To me, that's what Trump's comments about Canada feel like.
As I write this, I gaze out my window and stare at Brock's Monument on top of Queenston Heights. Illuminated and standing grand at 56 metres, that monolithic structure exists to remind us how we became Canadians.
American, British (soon to be Canadian) and Indigenous blood was shed on the slopes of the Niagara Escarpment to define our pride and national independence in the War of 1812.
And when I explore online I see a strange and disturbing phenomenon unfolding, where a portion of people who currently live on the very soil where these battles took place are openly celebrating and encouraging the annexation of Canada under Trump's ideals. My heart aches and my stomach twists a little when I read the vitriol and rhetoric that exists on our side of the border.
Upon further digging, it appears that many of these people feel massively disenfranchised by Justin Trudeau or the Liberal Party in general.
Seemingly, they have taken their grievances with our current and outgoing Prime Minister and his party and translated their ideas into becoming less patriotic. This makes no sense to me at all.
To these people, I would counter that I am openly excited about the departure of Trudeau's Liberals for several reasons.
I don't link my Canadian citizenship directly to my current government. You can be a proud and humble Canadian without liking your current government. That's called democracy. One shouldn't let a failing and flailing political party define one’s identity to the point that the revolting concept called annexation seems like a good idea.
To be transparent, I voted for Trudeau in his first tenure. I also openly celebrated the defeat and departure of Stephen Harper's Conservatives, even though I have a signed letter of recognition from him for environmental work I did many years ago.
I have always insisted that no party nor its leader can buy or keep me. I simply do my best to observe and adapt as times and people change, and in doing so, I'm hopefully not contributing to the polarization that Trump is currently preying upon - and many are falling victim to.
As I know from experience, flying a small Canadian flag on your backpack in foreign countries is a badge of honour. Our people are respected, welcomed and celebrated at ground level wherever they go. Isn't that a beautiful thing?
I admit that I find Trudeau's style of resignation dangerous and selfish. His decision to prorogue government until late March leaves us with a lame-duck Prime Minister and government as Trump takes office.
We all know that Trump tends to act quickly and profoundly, and we won't be able to collectively respond thanks to a dead government in Ottawa, while the Liberals attempt to elect a new leader. We also all know that several moving parts in the geopolitical world will radically transform themselves the moment Trump takes office, and that Canada will have nothing to say about it until the spring.
Regardless of your feelings and opinions about our current government, we are Canadians. When you cross the border, you can eat chicken wings, go camping, and see concerts by Americans that we love and have always been so close to. We're always more alike than unalike. We must continue celebrating the massive yet delicate relationship with our neighbour to the south.
As a millennial, many of our grandparents fought for our Canadian freedom, identity and the independence that warranted the erection of Brock's Monument. That landmark exists within view of my window in Niagara-on-The-Lake because we are Canadians. Please, do not let yourself or others ever forget that.
Hundreds of nations worldwide would beg to have what we have - a sovereign and uniquely proud culture of people living in relative peace. Do not ever take that for granted from the first joke to the fifth.
