Mr. Biden, Tear Down This Wall

JJ MacCullough is more or less suggesting that Canada be annexed by the USA.

It is not an unreasonable desire—especially given the current rapidly eroding state of freedom in Canada. We ordinary Canadians might soon welcome the sight of American soldiers in our streets.

There never has been a very strong argument for Canada being a separate country. There is little cultural difference between English Canada and the USA. So little that the average Canadian could chat with the average Midwesterner for some time without detecting they are from different countries. If attacked, Canada could not by itself defend its vast land area. We depend on American support for defense. Unification would cement it; remaining independent is freeloading. We may not be able to afford such freeloading much longer, with the rising power of China. And Canadians pay a premium in standard of living and career opportunities for not being fully part of the big US market.

The best argument against annexation is that the Americans don’t want us. Amalgamation with Canada would presumably mean ten more US States, each with two senators, and they would probably all be Democrats. That’s not going to fly with Republicans. For the same reason, Puerto Rico is not admitted to statehood, although they have voted for it. New states have usually joined in pairs, one likely to lean left, one likely to lean right.

And there is more positive reason for Canadian independence. It is a protection for our freedoms. If the government in one place goes bad, the border is near, and assimilation is easy. This was helpful to escaped slaves before the US Civil War; then to Jefferson Davis after it. It was helpful to young Americans during the Vietnam War. It was helpful to William Lyon Mackenzie and the Canadian patriotes after the failure of the rebellions of 1837, and to Riel after the Red River rebellion. We seem to need it now.

Perhaps the best of both worlds would be simply making crossing the border easier. How about mutual automatic right of residence for citizens of either country?

While a porous southern border might be a problem for the US, this open border is not going to cause a flood of either economic migrants or wards of the state. Levels of prosperity and government services are comparable in both countries.

Such a mutual automatic right of residence used to exist between Canada and the UK, and worked well. It currently exists between Australia and New Zealand.

It would be certain to make both countries more prosperous.