By now everyone has no doubt heard about Donald Trump’s Executive Order to “rename” Lake Ontario to Lake America.
On the surface it sounds like little more than a bad joke, and in some ways it is. While Trump can choose what his government calls the lake, it belongs jointly to the US and Canada, and the name cannot be officially changed without the agreement of both countries – which of course is not going to happen.
On another level, though, this renaming of something important to Canadians is not a joke at all.
Donald Trump stated early in his second term that he planned to use economic force to annex Canada and make us his 51st state. The recent attempt at a “trade deal”, which would have given the US more power over us economically as well as culturally, was a big part of that, and Trump and his team were both shocked and furious when the Canadian side said “no, thanks”, and walked away. The immediate response was the promised 50% tariffs.
Now this is the next step – take something that is part American, and part Canadian, and claim it by calling it “Lake America”. It isn’t illegal, it isn’t violent, but it is a way of saying “I am more powerful than you, and I can take you over if I want”.
What should we, as Canadians, do about this? At this point, I believe the best response is none at all. Trump hates to be ignored. We grit our teeth, continue to refer to the body of water as Lake Ontario, and simply pretend his Executive Order never happened.
At the same time, it is vital that we keep our eyes open for the next trick Trump has up his sleeve. Because there will be one, and it will likely be more dangerous to our sovereignty than a silly name game. We should be prepared to strike back if and when necessary.
We should also put any thought of a trade agreement on hold until there is a regime change in the White House. The Trump government will never want a fair and reasonable trade deal with Canada, no matter what they might say. And anything they do sign cannot be trusted to last past their leader’s next temper tantrum.
The United States is no longer an ally. It is the biggest danger we currently face.
Add comment
Comments