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DEAR EDITOR:
This letter is written in response to the actions of the current presidential administration toward Canada. While daily headlines blare the latest bureaucratic blunders a recurring joke is uttered repeatedly by someone that has never been able to say much useful or funny. The joke is as follows: President Trump repeatedly and inanely suggests that Canada become part of the United States of America.
No one in Canada thinks this is a smart idea. It is not difficult to see why.
The very idea that Canada would ever become a part of the U.S. laughably highlights the arrogance and ignorance of failing to respect another nation's existence. In what way has Canada ever showed any sign of needing to be taken over by us? It never has and it never will. Canada is a functional democracy with a strong identity and a vast history, able to establish its own goals and visions for how it wants to exist. Our own country, if it ever bothered to do so, could actually learn much from Canada, especially from its universal insurance program.
Someone might ask: "Why don't you move there?" Too much to fix here, particularly since the 2024 elections. There is also the possibility, in accordance with President Trump's past historical lack of business acumen, that Canada ends up owning us somehow and makes the question of moving a moot point.
When someone that the public unwisely elected president twice offhandedly labels Canada the "51st state" that is confirming multiple stereotypes of Americans that are not flattering. We broadcast a message of ourselves as oblivious and with an ahistorical, estranged understanding of our own country.
Isolating allies anywhere does not serve American interests, including absurdly and vengefully targeting Canada with tariffs. It makes living in the U.S. more expensive and compromises its future, both domestically and abroad. Actions in support of other countries -- like Ukraine, a democracy fighting for its very existence- would make far more sense than demeaning the rest of the world. Intelligent decisions, like funding scientific research and not gutting our governmental infrastructure, would allow America far more possibilities.
Understand that the president and his administration are engaging in dull, smug behavior that makes this country a worse place to live. I do not think many people understand how low of an opinion some Canadians had about the United States before any of this recent antagonism even happened. Canada is a brilliant, capable country and the polar opposite of Donald Trump.
ROBERT HELTZEL
Hamden, Connecticut
(Formerly of Niles)