Canada and the United States of America have one of the strongest, most peaceful, and longest-lasting relationships between any two nations bordering each other in the world. Now, opportunistic, partisan brinkmanship is threatening that partnership, and it’s intolerable.There's plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the border and across the political spectrum. Trump’s provocative and disrespectful 51st state references and referring to the prime minister as the governor of Canada set things off. I understand that Trudeau didn’t command respect, but some degree of diplomacy between the top offices of the nations is typically expected. The tariffs certainly aren’t helping matters either.The Liberal Party under Carney’s leadership used the trade and diplomatic tension to whip up a jingoistic frenzy with their repugnant but very successful “elbows up” campaign. In painting the Americans as bogeymen, the Liberals managed to secure an election win from what appeared to be certain defeat less than a year ago. They exaggerated threats and attitudes from people south of the border to cause Canadians to feel insecure with their neighbours. The strategists in the Liberal campaign knew that when people feel there may be an outside threat to their well being, they tend to rally around familiar leadership and eschew change electorally.The campaign was a success, but the price was high as our friendship with the United States has taken a blow, which will take years to recover from. It was an unforgivable tactic used to win an election.I am currently in the United States on my annual pilgrimage of chasing the sun in Arizona. Since crossing the border, I have been dealing with ugly, snide, vitriolic shots at me for daring to come into the USA. Not from Americans, mind you. I mean, from Canadians.I share my activities and thoughts on social media. It’s part of my nature and part of promoting my views to send people to read my columns. When I dared to point out on X that my border crossing into Montana took a scant three minutes with a friendly customs agent, my account was swarmed with responses telling me not to come back and saying I was a traitor to Canada. I am used to the traitor accusations though it usually refers to my support for Alberta independence. I didn’t expect it to come at me for merely crossing the same border that tens of thousands of Canadians do every day..This is the result of a year of vilification of the United States and its citizens by the federal government along with the legacy media outlets pandering to it for subsidies. Horror stories have been shared of people being detained at the border and encountering hostile, nasty Americans. Those invested in that narrative get upset when hearing that the atmosphere down South is as friendly as ever.Some people have chosen not to vacation in the United States as a form of protest over the trade war. They certainly have that right to do so and the number of Canadians to be seen in Arizona is visibly lower than I have noticed in prior years. The low Canadian dollar has impacted snowbird levels too. To lambaste others for not taking part in their little rebellion is shallow and pointlessly divisive, however.Setting aside the politics, step back and look at the bond between the USA and Canada. While there are some cultural differences between Americans and Canadians, they are no more distinct than those differences between Canadians in different provinces. Are we to pretend that British Columbians are culturally closer to Quebecers than they are to Americans? Or Newfoundlanders to people from Saskatchewan? We speak the same language, eat the same foods, dress the same way, and watch the same movies. Aside from some regional accents, most Americans are indistinguishable from most Canadians. For the most part, we hold the same values as well. We aren't just neighbours, we are family. The USA is by far Canada’s largest trading partner, and Canada is the USA’s largest partner. We need and consume similar products, and geography makes us natural partners. Canada would be wise to diversify its customer markets overseas, but it’s delusional to think that the USA will ever become anything other than an essential trading partner for us..Politicians will come and go. Administrations will come and go. Legacy media is on the way out.Let’s ensure that none of these self-interested groups permanently fracture our relationship with the United States. We can get upset with the government of the USA and should at times.We must not take it personally, though, or take it out on the American citizens themselves.They are our cousins and are much like us, whether some insecure Canadians want to admit it or not. Our relationship is too important to let politics get between us. Tune out the Liberals and their pet journalists, and always remember our friendship with Americans is worth protecting. The bond between Canada and the United States is the envy of the world.
