Canada: the 51st State?

They say that if you don’t learn from the past, you’ll be likely to repeat it in the future. (Notice that I didn’t actually use the word “mistakes”.) Remember when Germany annexed Austria before WWII?

Now, one could argue that those two countries were previously connected but forbidden to reunite after WWI. Also one could say that prior to the American Revolution, the only division was between New France and British North America (ignoring Spain and its possessions in the south). As some would say, our two countries have more in common than most, including our ‘nominal’ border.

Canada is in a state of flux, at the moment. Trudeau has resigned as Liberal Party leader, and, ipso facto, Prime Minister. Even Ontario is having a provincial election before the end of February. We are vulnerable, because there are no clear political leaders to effectively oppose Trump and his ‘bright idea’.

I’m not sure Canada’s constitution would even allow a referendum on unification with the USA. But Trump knows that tariffs would put Canadian industries, and, therefore the country, at a disadvantage.

Support for unification with Germany came mainly from the belief that Austria, stripped of its imperial land, was not viable economically.

Wikipedia

A-ha, says I. Having studied Hitler, Trump seems to have learned his lessons well.