Leong: A letter to our American neighbours

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Dear American neighbours,

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In the weeks since President Donald Trump began unilaterally dictating a new order for internal politics, global trade and international diplomacy, it’s been heartening to see signs of a pushback in your country amid strange and strained times.

There have been media reports about concerned citizens attending town hall meetings hosted by congressional representatives to rebuke your newly re-elected ruling party and president for all manner of things, which many of your people say you didn’t vote for.

This concern seems to be extending to international affairs, rarely the focus of U.S. politics and particularly visible now in the matter of Canadian sovereignty.

Trump has made repeated suggestions that the only way for Canada to avoid trade tariffs would be to relinquish our independence and join you as its “cherished” 51st state.

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And if Canada were to fail to do this of its own free will — if you can call it free will at this point — then the objective would be coerce our country to submit by further economic force.

None of this makes sense unless you perceive the world in certain ways.

First, that the U.S. can’t be an economic winner unless it’s the only winner. The idea of world trade being a unifying and equalizing mechanism that allows every participating nation to win something wouldn’t fit into Trump’s stated view of the world — that if others succeed, they are by extension ripping off the United States.

Then, under that logic, the only way for Canada to succeed would be to join the United States, because if the U.S. is winning, an independent Canada is necessarily losing.

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Conversely, because the United States relies so much of Canada’s natural resources to keep its economy going, the only way for the U.S. to succeed without having to trade with Canada would be to absorb it.

There’s no other explanation for the tariff war, all the annexation talk and the questioning of other agreements signed between our nations.

Canadians aren’t alone in believing this logic to be severely flawed, to put it extremely politely.

Our trademark Canadian politeness is now tinged with anger and defiance, as reflected by a movement to avoid buying U.S. products at stores.

Similarly, many people have rearranged their leisure travel to avoid your country. The CEO of Calgary-based airline WestJet, speaking recently at an unrelated event, noted that bookings for U.S. travel were down significantly since the trade war started.

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Others around the world have taken note. People are posting photos in some online discussion groups to proudly share news of their acquisition of Canadian foodstuffs and other products.

It seems this avoidance of U.S.-made goods and U.S. travel is starting to spread, with Trump’s trade war slowly expanding to include more nations.

In response to this madness, some of you in the U.S. are purchasing Canadian products and vacationing in Canada to express your displeasure. There are even anecdotal reports of people apologizing to Canadians for recent events.

These are touching, much-appreciated gestures.

People outside the U.S. are turning to retail rebellion because voting with our wallets is the only concrete way we can make ourselves heard.

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But those of you who are U.S. citizens are able to vote in real elections — and yet, a significant portion of you have consistently chosen to stay home.

Since 1980, the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in a presidential election peaked at 65.3 per cent in 2020, hitting a low of 51.7 per cent in 1996.

Recent public opinion polls in your country show a lack of support for a trade war with Canada or the annexation of Canada. And yet, popular sentiment has become uncoupled from political leadership in the most alarming way.

While the rest of the world can only deal with the consequences of the United States’ actions, only you are able to do something about your government.

Many thanks to sympathetic folks in the U.S. who are buying Canadian and doing other little things in the face a belligerent Trump administration.

But as circumstances become more complicated, you may need to move beyond symbolic gestures and re-engage with politics to remind your elected representatives that you, the people, are the boss — not them.

Sincerely,

Ricky, a northern neighbour and friend

rleong@postmedia.com

Find Ricky on Bluesky and X

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