Empire Or Sovereignty?

Annexation Or Devolution?

By Matthew Clark

Amidst the philosophical musings of President Donald Trump on the perfection arising from a Canadian/United states political union, and the panicked shrieking from Canadian lawmakers denying the possibility of such a merger, a delightful opportunity has been provided to Canadian citizens. They are in a position to make a decision on what nationality they want to be. Whether denizens of the Great White North actually exercise this possibility is still to be determined. Yet if they do grab this option gifted to them by the President with the orange hair, Canadians would be wise to consider all alternatives open to them, not just on whether to be Canadians or Americans.

First let us take a gander at a political union with the United States.

Canada has 3,855,103 square miles of territory. United States has 3,794,083 square miles of territory. Together that amounts to 7,649,186 square miles, making for the largest physical land nation on earth. Combining the Canadian population (40.1 million) with it's American counterpart would result in a country of 380.2 million inhabitants. Amalgamating the two economies of $29 trillion (U.S.) with $2.117 trillion (Canada) would give the new United States an impressive economy of $31.117 trillion,

This arguably is where the good news terminates.

Having a larger nation, both physically and in population, would most probably produce more inept government, not a more efficient one. Washington politicians could be even more unresponsive to Canadian citizens problems than lawmakers in Ottawa have been. In addition possessing Canadian resources might cause government actors to be even more belligerent and aggressive on the world stage then they already are. Comtemporary examples of this condition being the malignant support of Ukraine, and Israel, as well as nonsensical European NATO nations. As already stated these aggressions could increase. This leads into another problem, which is the issue of military conscription! Such a malevolent action, in Canada usually only advocated by old men and women who never went through conscription themselves, might well occur in America which has on many occassions instituted the "draft."

In addition as part of the United States Canadian water would almost certainly be seized by the federal government in Washington to quench the thirst of Western farmers.

Finally once Canadian hockey players started wearing U.S. jerseys they would definitely start to lose the big games. Old habits tend to get passed onto newcomers.

So a Canada/U.S. poitical union is not at all advantageous (for Canadians). Yet the status quo is equally unacceptable. Canada is not working! It is a nation in decline. As of 2024 Canadians had a private debt load of 212.62% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the personal debt load is 103% of GDP. Furthermore the total public debt is 103.5% ($3.036 trillion) of the realms GDP. This is unsustainable. Canadians are gettting poorer!

Two examples of how everyday life in Canada is getting harsher are the healthcare system, and education. Canada's health care system is failing dramatically. On average the nations citizens wait 30 weeks from a general practitioners referral till the time they meet with a specialist, and then another 15 weeks from the specialist meeting to treatment. This incompetence is repeated in the Northern Kingdoms education institutions. Forty eight per cent of Canadian adults have inadequate literacy skills. There are many other shortcomings within Canada, in fact a whole litany of them, but it is suffice to stop with these examples.

A solution to the dysfunction of everyday life in Canada might be political devolution. Instead of having a large transcontinental nation which serves it's citizens poorly, Canadian voters could opt to disassemble the Canadian federation into 4 or 5 more compact countries.

Atlantic Canada, rebranded as the Maritime Federation, would regain the dynamism it possessed in the 19th century. Quebecers would finally realize their dreams of sovereignty within the Republic of Quebec. As the Ontario Republic inhabitants of Ontario could at last focus on their own immediate problems rather than being obsessed by the goings on of petty parliamentarians in Ottawa. Westerners would finally be unburdened of their grievences against Central Canada as they operated political independence from within the Confederation of Western States. Meanwhile citizens of the Territories could focus solely on bettering conditions in the north through the Artic Confederacy.

Smaller states legislatures, as would exist in a disassembled Canada, would be more answerable to the population they receive their legitimacy from. Transcontinental institutions, such as large banks, would have a more difficult time forming in smaller jurisdictions. Furthermore smaller governments, with fewer resources, would encourage those governments to be more frugal. Elite overreach would be more arduous to execute.

A Canada of many nations might have a chance for greater amicability amongst the peoples of the different countries. A conservative west would have little need to be in conflict with a liberal Quebec when they are no longer fellow countrymen. There is the chance for individuals to migrate to states they believe are more atuned to their outlook on life. Examples could be liberals moving to the Maritimes while conservatives journey to the west. This could create harmonious national populations. This harmony would be further increased by having lawmakers concentrate on the common needs of their own people (i.e. northerners on life in the Artic) rather than on what occurs at present, which is attempting to meet the desires of a disparate Canada.

Finally smaller nations would likely avoid, or do their best to avoid, foreign entanglement. They would do this for no other reason than the fact the ( more diminutive) nation could not afford to be mixed up in overseas conflicts.

Whether he intended to or not President Donald Trump has given Canadians some interesting political options. Citizens of Canada would do well to take advantage of this gift. It is rare, in these contemporary times, for a people to have such a fundamental choice as that of what nationality they wish to possess.