If Canada Became a State....

[Joe Guy]

Although I realize the idea of Canada becoming a State is impossible, I was wondering how many electoral votes it would be allowed if was made a state... and I figure it wouldn't be a red state.

I wonder if Trump has thought about th....

...never mind.

[Bicycle Bill]

You're assuming that Trump thinks — at least as most people define 'thinking' — at all.

-"BB"-

[Crackpot]

I figure the provinces would become states and that would possibly more of an even split. (At least over time)

[Scooter]

There would be something north of 50 House seats divided among those new states, that if the total seats remained at 435, would have to be deducted from the seats of existing states, or even if added on top of the current 435, would still dilute them substantially. Outside of the Prairies and rural B.C. , Ontario and Quebec, those would be overwhelmingly Democratic. As would the Senate seats in every new state outside the Prairies.

Considering how much Republicans oppose statehood for DC and Puerto Rico, I can't see them agreeing to admit any new states in what is now Canada.

[Sue U]

Yes but would Canada take New England, New York and New Jersey as new provinces? Please?

[BoSoxGal]

Pretty please?

[Burning Petard]

And what about the Delmarva Peninsula? Could we go North too? Would love to see passports required to visit Rehobeth. Our potatoes could join Canadian tomatoes.

snailgate.

[BoSoxGal]

I don't typically watch pro sports anymore, but last night I tuned into the end of the Four Nations final between USA and Canada at the TD Garden and I was really truly thrilled to see Canada win in sudden death OT and to hear the crowd there cheer very loudly for their anthem and the team as they did their victory ceremony.

I hope our northern cousins realize that we aren't all crazy MAGAts.

[Scooter]

A Letter from Canada to Donald Trump.....
"Your plan to create ‘the United States of Canada’ is brilliant." By John Manley
[Deputy Canadian Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in PM Jean Chrétien’s government].

Dear Donald Trump,

My mentor and former boss, prime minister Jean Chrétien, has dismissed your suggestion that Canada and the U.S. merge.

Do not despair. My point of view differs somewhat from his (sorry, Boss). I think we may be able to make this work if Canadians fully understand your proposal.

Imagine what the “United States of Canada” could be. We would marry American ingenuity and entrepreneurship to Canada’s natural resources, underdog toughness and culture of self-effacing politeness to create a powerful, world-dominating country.

Pointers for starters...
☆ We would be the largest land mass in the world.
☆ We would be self-reliant in every respect (food, energy, minerals, water).
☆ We would attract the world’s most talented people.
☆ We would truly be “the best country in the world,” to use Mr. Chrétien’s words.
☆ We would dominate international hockey competitions.

Your idea is truly brilliant.

As you know from your corporate experience, for any successful merger, the devil is in the details, but I have some suggestions.

(1). Canada could never simply be the 51st state. You see Canada consists of 10 states (we call them “provinces”) and three territories.
Each of our provinces exists for historical reasons and citizens feel a deep loyalty to their province. So we would need to be the 51st to 60th states. With two senators for each state, of course. Therefore, our 20 senators will no doubt bring fresh ideas to the institution that will help make the United States of Canada truly great!

(2). Some issues that cause division and frustration in your country are considered settled by political parties of all stripes in Canada, so I suggest adopting Canadian consensus in the interest of making this deal work.

☆ For example, there is no argument in Canada over women’s reproductive rights. There! That hot-button issue is resolved for you! (You can thank me later.)

☆ All Canadian politicians support our single-payer health care system because no one is refused treatment for their inability to pay and no one goes broke because they suffer a catastrophic illness.

In effect, all of our citizens have lifetime critical illness insurance provided by the government. And while it’s expensive, our system costs considerably less than yours, with 100 per cent of the population covered! Your citizens will love it, I promise.

☆ I would also observe that Canadians have long preferred to live with many fewer firearms than are tolerated in the United States. The result is a drastically lower rate of deaths and injuries caused by gun violence in Canada. Our gun laws would make the country safer than it is, and safer is definitely greater!

☆ We have some other innovations that you may wish to consider. Our Canada Pension Plan, equivalent to your Social Security, is fully funded and actuarially sound. This requires higher contributions but it pays off with solvency. I believe your Social Security runs out of money in the near future. (That’s not great, is it?)

☆ Lower personal income taxes paid in the U.S. are a great attraction.

☆ But our programs to support both seniors and young families to reduce the worst cases of poverty among them help make society more cohesive and fair. That’s one of the reasons our taxes have been higher.

☆ Oh, and we must consider how we fund government expenses. We’re struggling to bring our deficit back down, but it wasn’t that long ago (2015) that our budget was effectively balanced. In fact, for more than a decade prior to the global financial crisis, Canada ran surplus budgets. In addition to spending discipline, our national value-added tax, the GST, was key. You definitely want to adopt that! In fact, you will love it! (Canadians don’t love it, but their governments do. And it beats borrowing money from the Chinese.)

There are many smaller details that I am sure we can work out.

☆ You will enjoy the simplicity of the metric system for weights and measures, for example. Oh, but we’re not crazy, you can keep yards for football! And you will love that sport even more when you play it on a bigger field with only three downs.

I am so excited about this, Mr. Trump. You are truly a visionary leader to have come up with this idea.

I can already see the 60 little maple leaves on the flag with 13 stripes!

I am ready to throw myself into this great project of making the United States of Canada great again! (Oh, that’s too long. Let’s just call our new country “Canada.”)

Respectfully, as I dislodge my tongue from my cheek,

John Manley

About the Author:
John Paul Manley PC OC (born January 5, 1950) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the eighth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2002 to 2003. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to 2004. From January 2010 to October 2018 he was president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada. He is currently the chairman of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and serves on the advisory board of the Leaders' Debates Commission. See less

[Bicycle Bill]

I started laughing so hard I almost choked on my root beer when I read that part about seeing "... the 60 little maple leaves on the flag with 13 stripes!"

Better yet, let the three territories ALSO become states, and we might as well finally grant Puerto Rico statehood as well — for a grand total of 64 states in the US of Canada.   And then the 64 little maple leafs (as an aside — is it 'leaves' or 'leafs'?  And if it IS 'leaves', then why are they called the Toronto Maple Leafs?) can then be arranged in an 8 X 8 configuration on the blue canton in the corner.

Whaddya say, eh?

-"BB"-

[Scooter]

[Joe Guy]

[BoSoxGal]

This is fun, I especially like the FAQs:

https://joincanada-eh.com/#vote

[Sue U]

This is fun, I especially like the FAQs:

https://joincanada-eh.com/#vote

LOL, Michigan is far and away the leader in votes to join Canada (at 9:24 pm EST on 25 Feb.). How many times did you vote, Crackpot?

[datsunaholic]

This is fun, I especially like the FAQs:

https://joincanada-eh.com/#vote

LOL, Michigan is far and away the leader in votes to join Canada (at 9:24 pm EST on 25 Feb.). How many times did you vote, Crackpot?

Washington is in second, though, with about the same margin to 3rd.

[Crackpot]

Didn’t vote at all but we really like Canada in this state especially when it comes to protecting our greatest natural resource

[Sue U]

our greatest natural resource

Michigeese? Mallory McMorrow?

[Crackpot]

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7467020

Canada has done many things for us over the years (including protecting us from ourselves) and we are thankful for it. Things like protecting our lakes from those who would exploit them. They gave us a beautiful song to commemorate or lost sailors an to this day (by luck of the wreck laying on the Canadian side of the invisible line) protect thier resting place from being exploited by the “less than noble” aspects of human nature. I can’t imagine the pain that would be caused to the family if thier loved one became the next “Old Whitey”

[BoSoxGal]

No worries, it's a story worth hearing more than once!

[Scooter]

Russia said these exact words about Ukraine before, you know.



Time for me to start learning how to make Molotov cocktails and IEDs.