American Exceptionalism, will Canada Keep up?
Election night in 2024 proved once again that polling data can’t be trusted. Going into the night the American people were promised a nail biter, polling showed that Trump and Harris were neck to neck in data. Some political science personalities were already busting out the champagne, ready to toast in “Madam President”. However it was clear just a few hours into counting that Trump was pulling ahead. Soon it was clear that not only was he going to win the Presidency but also the house and the popular vote. It was a major upset for Democrats and the Liberal outrage establishment who were predictably outraged by the results. How did Trump pull it off again? He assembled a team of disaffected Democrats and outsider Republicans in what could be called a big tent revival of the American dream. This rag-tag group of unlikely allies is already set to begin carving up the machinery that has decimated the American dream as soon as the they get the green light.
What was clear from the election is that the American people have elected in a Government with a very strong mandate to fix the Country and enforce American exceptionalism. This mandate could be a good thing for Canada, as America’s largest neighbour to the North with a huge shared border we are uniquely poised to work with the United States towards trade agreements that could benefit both Countries. However, years of taking advantage of our neighbour to the South of us may have finally cost us bigly.
A Weak Northern Neighbour
Canada’s Government has been engaged in one of the most insane modern social experiments known as Post-Nationalism. We have decided that we no longer have a core identity, that we have no shared values and that we must perpetually self-flagellate for our dark and awful sins of the past. Our Prime Minister gleefully informed the New York Times of such after he won his election in 2015. Since that time we have been in an abusive relationship in one of the most histrionic and narcissistic Governments we have ever had. In the process of destroying our Country we have largely relied on the protection afforded to us by our bigger Southern brother. This is undeserved protection as we continually shirk our responsibilities at our border, with our military capability, trade and foreign relations.
Our weak borders are not a new issue. After 9/11 when I was in College I was invited to go onto a local radio station to discuss the Provincial Election. When it came to the question of border trade I said that we were not trusted by the United States, that they did not believe that we took our Border Security seriously. I then said something to the effect that the United States views us as terrorist sympathizers. It was like the air was sucked out of the room. The one person debating (University Political Science student) turned to me wide eyed and asked if I really believed that. I did then and I believe that it is even worse now. I do worry that one day we will require visa’s to enter the United States, we are not taken seriously as a Country.
In January 2023 it was revealed that there were suspected spy balloons floating around North America. One of those balloons was spotted over Canada, it ended up being shot down by the United States. It is not known if Canadian aircraft even had the capability to shoot down the balloon. Our own “experts” denounced the idea of us shooting down a hostile spy balloon, citing NORAD protocols which again rely on the United States to provide the bulk of the protection.
Should Canada have acted when it flew into Canadian airspace?
The short answer, according to military experts, is no.
"To say that, oh, Canada should have shot this balloon down on its own — that's just silly," said University of Calgary history professor and military historian David Bercuson.
"That just completely ignores the fact that NORAD exists that we're part of it and have been part of it for almost 80 years now." -CBC
This incident highlighted a particular weakness in our ability to respond effectively to threats and even if they were just following protocols that makes it looks even worse for us.
Consequences of Complacency
Relying on a larger neighbour for protection while failing to offer substance in return has created a parasitic relationship between our nations and it appears that the host is tired of being fed off of. Not only have we relied for too long on our relationship but we’ve failed to innovate or develop a stand alone economic power structure that could survive in harsh times without our largest ally. It hasn’t helped that few Countries take Canada seriously as a contender on the National stage, we’re viewed as a pariah. Our Prime Minister is consistently engaged in social blunders acting the part of a well meaning but naive jester. This act may have been cute in 2015 but post world flu and with a nuclear war possibly on the horizon, everyone else is building bunkers while we’re still trying appease the woke mind virus. We simply can’t seem to get our act together. It isn’t just our leader, it has become apparent that there is a large group of people in his circle that are terrible at governing. People who do have some competency are removed for not following the Party lines.
A 25% tariff on Canadian goods would devastate our economy. Canadians on both the right and left have been angry since the announcement yesterday, getting upset at Canadians who have vocalized support of Donald Trump. Canadian Trump supporters have shot back that this is the fault of the Canadian Government and that Americans have the right to assert themselves. I believe that this could have been avoided if we had fulfilled our obligations to the Border, military and trade. We have been lenient and we do have the ability to resolve some of these issues at the border but we have not taken responsibility for our side of the obligations. One only need to remember the Roxham road loophole in which people were walking across the border without being properly screened. How many thousands used the route to bypass a legal land crossing with proper screening mere minutes away? Why did we allow this?
It appears that Trump is serious about holding American’s border Countries to account and it means that Canada will need to step up its game. We in particular have one of the largest borders in the world. We need to take this seriously. We have two months to figure it out and at least get a serious plan started. It won’t just be up to the Federal Government, the Provinces will be heavily impacted by this decision so the Provinces need to assist with securing our Borders and keeping them secured. It also reveals that we need to diversify our trading and practice some economic protections against the globalized economy. People shouldn’t be so much upset that Trump plans to do this but instead that we let ourselves get into such a weak position of negotiation. It’s clear that American exceptionalism is back on the table and Canada needs to develop its own version to compete effectively with our largest trade partner.
Thanks for reading!