OTTAWA — It’s the world’s most awkward breakup.
More than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump casually joked about absorbing Canada and repeatedly threatened debilitating tariffs on its goods, many Canadians are convinced their former pals to the south have lost the plot.
New results from The POLITICO Poll suggest a lasting chill has settled over the world’s former bosom buddies. Americans are rosy as ever about their northern neighbors, but Canadians don’t share the love.
Their message to America: It’s not us, it’s you.
Canadians don’t see Trump’s America as merely an annoyance, the survey found. They consider the superpower next door the world’s greatest threat to peacetime.
When I started teaching 35 years ago, I posed the question, “Should Canada join the U. S.” as a writing assignment. Back then, around 50 % were in favour. Over the years, it was nearly a linear descent. When I retired, I would get maybe 1 in a class of 30 that would be for it.