Re the headline above: Just kidding. Sort of. … It just makes me more than a little sad, not to mention angry, how this Trump administration has completely destroyed our once close relationship with Canada, mocking and denigrating a country that’s peacefully existed to our north for centuries, stood should-to-shoulder with us during WWI, WWII and the Cold War, and became one of our top trading partners. There was a time not so long ago when school children on both sides of the border were proudly taught that Canada and the U.S. had the “longest unguarded border in the world.” … Not a peep of serious complaint could be heard on the left and right about the relationship until Donald Trump came along, with his sophomoric “51st state” rhetoric and petty tariffs and now … and now he’s literally driven Canada to request joining the E.U. as an “associate member,” as the NYT and WSJ report.
They’re clearly loving this in Europe. From the normally restrained Charlemagne at the Economist: “Why Canada should join the EU.” The subhead: “Europe needs space and resources, Canada needs people. Let’s deal.” …
How would an E.U. membership impact New England’s relationship with Canada, our largest trading partner with close business and intergovernmental ties to New England? Not clear. The WSJ has an excellent article on what a Canada-E.U. partnership might look like – or not look like. But my hunch is it wouldn’t be all that good, knowing the E.U.’s penchant for red-tape and its increasingly competitive stance against America and American products (also thanks to Trump). … Maybe New England can apply for a “deputy associate membership” in the E.U.?
Logo above via New England-Canada Business Council, which is going to have its diplomatic hands full in coming months and years, it appears.
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