Calgary-based writer Barry McIntyre is a retired professional engineerSince Trump’s '51st state' comment, we’ve seen a lot of pointless emotional outburst. What we have not seen is an unvarnished discussion of the underlying issues. First, a bit of reality: Canada ceased being a “nationalist” country under Pierre Trudeau and hasn’t looked back since. All political parties now embrace globalism. We’ve already acknowledged we are willing to give up our sovereignty, because we already have. The question then becomes will we be run by European elites, or maybe try the US instead?Unlike the Canada of the 1960, we are no longer self-sufficient. It is axiomatic that we are not independent, as lacking self-sufficiency means dependence on others. That’s what globalism has wrought.Also, unlike the 1960’s, we do not have anything resembling a common culture anymore, as we have embraced multi-culturalism, which means any culture, which boils down to no culture. There is no glue holding things together. Furthermore, we have a substantial immigrant population, many, if not most, coming for better financial security. That dream is proving elusive for them, and everybody else.We have increased poverty, more people going hungry, homelessness and more financial distress. People can’t afford homes. There’s little job security outside of government. Health care is sketchy as there’s a disconnect between expenditures and service/outcomes.Our economy is primarily dependent on the US. We need them, they don’t particularly need us. The Arctic is a straw man argument as there’s nothing of economic value there for anyone, outside maybe some oil and gas along the Alaska border. There are no sensible trade routes our way, only along Russia’s northern coast. The Canadian Shield from Ontario to Labrador may have some yet undiscovered minerals. The US has lots of gas, they could get bitumen from Venezuela. Or make diesel/gasoline from gas. They have lots of unexplored areas for potential minerals as well.The US has all the advantages. Plus, willpower and financial clout. Nobody seems to want to discuss what our options are, what the relative costs and benefits of those are. And, in addition to a constitution that does a better job of guaranteeing rights, they have a judicial system that is more inclined to protect those rights, as compared to our system.One option, if we want to remain a separate, distinct nation, is to re-industrialize and become self-sufficient again. That sort of sounds like MAGA for Canada. The other options are either something like and EU-style relationship with the US, or a merger. I suspect that realistically they don’t want to absorb us as it would be like adding another California, and sinkhole for government money.Politically we don’t really fit with the US, being a socialist country. In addition, we aren’t really that democratic, as the British system has devolved to dictatorship by the Prime Minister's Office, we have no “inalienable” rights, citizens seen as pawns to serve the government and the judicial system to protect the government. COVID highlighted all that. A Canadian “conservative” would be equivalent to a moderate-left Democrat in the US, with Liberal and NDP falling in the far-left category. Due to our socialist bent, everybody here makes less than Mississippi, number 50 in the US for income.Economically, there’s a case to be made for Canadians to want to be some kind of part of the US for financial reasons. Higher pay, lower taxes. Health care is a bit of a wash as our service isn’t very good for what it costs. In the case of an economic union rather than a political one, we’d see a lot of out-migration, as we have a better education system so our kids could get better jobs in the US. Sod's Law being what it is, we’d get gradually drained and left with the high-cost, low productivity people. So, we’d go broke and get absorbed anyway.Our government fancies itself as part of the global system, all parties having at least one foot through that door. That means no self-sufficiency, as the globalist model creates dependence which it controls via supply chains. Countries in their model aren’t really sovereign. So, the other twist here is whether we want to be subservient to the WEF/Davos types, or the US, if we don’t choose self-sufficient independence. Given full disclosure I believe most would choose the US as being the least distasteful.Going it alone means a lot of work and sacrifice. Do we have it in us? Well, if we had that much resolve, would we be in the mess we’re in now? We don’t seem to want to make any sacrifices, and those who refuse to sacrifice are doomed to mediocrity. We’ve had it pretty easy up to now, and it’s crunch time. The free ride of US markets and capital propping up the Canadian elite is over, and there is no second source of cash to keep our little socialist experiment going. While we sit and complain, doing nothing as usual, the dollar will drop, inflation and taxes will rise, and there’ll be more government control and fewer rights.All to retain this morass called “Canada” to the benefit of the Laurentian elites. Trump is aware of our predicament and, with the tariff/trade war, is giving us another choice to climb out of this hole faster. Our choices are to fix our mess, end it by joining the US, or continue in mediocrity until we’re broke. However it turns out, we’ll own it.Calgary-based writer Barry McIntyre is a retired professional engineer.
