Pete McMartin: The dire state of the once-close relationship with our southern neighbours

Yet now, the latest iteration of American chauvinism jeopardizes all the benefits those car plants conferred. Many Canadians — and, I suppose, half of the American voting public — prefer to think this is all Trump’s fault, that once he’s out of office it will evaporate. It won’t.

Trump didn’t create that new American chauvinism. He gave licence to it. Even Democrats, if they take power again, will have to be sensitive to that.

Since the beginning of the 51st state campaign, neither my buddy nor I have ventured across our respective parts of the border. There is some irony in this for him: He was a Customs officer on the Ambassador Bridge. That some of his friends continue to visit the U.S. bothers him, and he wishes they would stop.

As for me, that anyone voluntarily crosses the border for pleasure flabbergasts me. Spending money in a country whose government is actively trying to destroy our economy? Whose actions have already caused fellow Canadians to lose their jobs and will cause thousands more to lose theirs? Aside from circumstances that make crossing the border imperative — family matters, health-related issues, employment — I see it as collaborating with the enemy.

While many Canadians may disagree with that opinion, or consider it an overreaction, America, for me, is an enemy — an opinion Prime Minister Mark Carney reluctantly also came to believe. In describing our relationship with the U.S. now, he used the word “war” judiciously.

Canadians, polls show, support the government’s opening salvos in this war by a wide margin.

But as time goes on, and the new round of U.S. tariffs and Canada’s counter-tariffs take effect, the casualties will mount. Trevor Tombe, a University of Calgary economist, estimated that about 90,000 people would lose their jobs across the country with the new round of tariffs, with B.C. losing about 11,000 jobs on top of those it has already lost. Worse may come: The new tariffs target about 13 per cent of B.C.’s exports to the U.S., the most exposure to U.S. markets of all Canadian provinces.

With luck, none of this will happen, and the adults in the room — if any still exist in the U.S. — will go back to the bargaining table. But if that does not happen, and Carney remains unwilling to cut a deal he believes threatens Canada’s sovereignty, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford renames Lake Ontario to Lake Kiss-My-Arse, and Canadians see their standards of living erode, what then? Will Canadians’ resolve remain firm?

I have my doubts.

For one thing, a generational divide exists on the issue. Older Canadians are better able to weather a financial hit. Younger Canadians, not so much. Burdened with debt, they may be less able and less willing to weather a trade war.

Then there are those quisling trolls, useful idiots, and MAGA fellow travellers who either welcome Canada’s absorption into the U.S. — in other words, traitors — or those who see the potential danger of a trade war as an opportunity to cut a better deal within Confederation. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — cognizant of the fact that mouths have two sides, and so often speak out of both of them — comes to mind. Hers is a dangerous, destabilizing game, and I hope that Albertans throw out her separation referendum and, then, her. Canada’s political fabric is already frayed, and she’s tugging on its threads.

Can we win this war?

I’m not sure that’s the right question. But we might survive it. And if ever we need this patchwork quilt we call a country to stay together, it’s now.

mcmartincharles@gmail.com