A few years ago, when attending American sports events, men always took off their hats and held their hand on their heart while singing the Star Spangled Banner. Often there was a flypast by an air force jet, and sometimes a parachuter landing on the field carrying an American flag. I was impressed with the patriotism.
Since the last president was sworn in, the pride to be a Canadian has far surpassed American pride. I still have both American friends and relatives but feel more empathy for them than envy. Since their government has turned from a best friend to a bully who threatens Mexico and to take over Canada, Greenland, and Panama, those four countries as well as most of Europe have become very wary of the U.S.A.. Our new PM visited France, England, and northern Canada before even recognizing President Trump. He was in no hurry to call the White House until Mr. Trump showed some respect and quit calling Canada the 51st state and our PM the governor.
Canadians immediately stepped up and stopped buying anything American, from crackers to Kentucky bourbon. Canadians vacationing in the U.S.A. slowed to a trickle. American travel to Canada improved. Our U.S. neighbours congratulated their Canadian friends for standing up to their bully. We even realized that American orange juice was actually Brazilian orange juice concentrate that was shipped by stainless steel tankers to Florida for bottling. When it was shipped directly to Canada and mixed with Canadian water, it suddenly became 40 per cent cheaper, and there was no tariff added on. Canada found out that those new fighter jets that came from the U.S.A. had to be repaired in the U.S.A. (with tariff applied) and a very similar jet could be purchased from Europe and built and serviced in Canada for much less money.
President Trump was complaining about our Canadian lumber but found out that Canadian lumber was twice as strong as similar-sized U.S. lumber, and the U.S. contractors wanted Canadian lumber even if it costs more. Trump also complained steadily about our supply management system ripping the U.S. off by charging a huge tariff. Eventually Trump found out that the tariffs charged the U.S. were identical to the tariffs charged to Canada by the U.S., and that no tariff on dairy products had ever been charged on either side. Then, when our PM Carney talked to Trump on the phone, he told Trump that supply management had been taken off the table several weeks ago and would not be touched. The stock markets in the U.S.A. have been in a steady decline since the tariff war began. Trump says it doesn’t matter, but the financial advisors say different.
Another subject that Canadians, especially Quebecers, have been worried about for a couple years now is that Quebec’s Bill 96 restricts students from attending their choice of university, makes only the French language legal in Quebec, forces every college student to write final exams only in French, plus pages full of more restrictions that compromise both English and French speakers. Foreign students that were turned away from Quebec because of language were gladly accepted in western Canada, which has resulted in a continuous brain drain in Quebec. Recently, news media asked wanna-be politicians what they think of Bill 96. Only Mr. Carney stated that he would intervene against Bill 96 when it came to the Supreme Court of Canada. The last time that it came to a vote in the House of Commons with the introduction of Bill C-13, all parties voted for it.
Maybe Trump’s threats to Canada woke everyone up. Although there will always be a few “me first” people; standing up and being a proud Canadian in every province has been a pleasure to watch happen.
