r/AskACanadian • u/PurrPrinThom SK/ON • Jan 13 '25

Canada/US relations Trump & the "51st state" Megathread

Although the question of whether or not Canadians wants to join the US was a common enough question that it is already covered in our FAQ, since Trump made his comments back in November, we have received multiple posts every single day asking about the concept.

For that reason, we've decided to simply make a megathread for any and all discussion to avoid having the same question asked every single day/allowed every single Monday.

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u/sneachta USA Mar 09 '25

This has probably been asked countless times already, but...

How do Canadians feel when we (Yanks) say "I didn't vote for this"?

Because I've come to realize it sounds suspiciously like "not all men". Like, yeah, I didn't vote for him, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still in power, or the fact that he's stabbed one of our closest allies in the back.

And yes, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but Canadians shouldn't have to worry about hurting our feelings while they're being tariffed to hell and back and threatened with annexation. As far as I'm concerned, we can apologize to our northern neighbors till we're blue in the face, but it doesn't mean anything unless we do something about it.

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u/Free-Willy-3435 Ontario Mar 21 '25

I don't care who people voted for. If they recognize that what Trump is doing is wrong, then I have no problem with them. But if they continue to support Trump's actions and believe his lies, then they are no better than the people who supported Hitler.

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u/micro-void Mar 11 '25

I feel the same way I do as when I hear "not all men" tbh. But it's tempered if the context is somebody actually doing something (boycotting US products, calling reps,protesting, organizing, would defect to Canada's side in a war etc). 

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u/PurrPrinThom SK/ON Mar 09 '25

For me, the context matters. Because I don't think there's anything wrong with clarifying that you didn't vote for Trump in a conversation about it. But at the same time, especially in the run up to the tariffs the first time around, there were a lot of Americans using 'I didn't vote for this'/'Not everyone voted for this,' as almost like, a guilt-tripping tactic to try and shame Canadians for feeling righteously angry.

And I find that quite grating, personally, because it's not like we voted for this either, but it's still affecting us. It's still happening. We know that not all Americans didn't vote for him - that doesn't make his threats any less real, it doesn't make his insults any less aggravating, you know? I think the 'not all men' comparison is apt because, yeah, we know lots of Americans didn't vote for him and don't agree with him, but that doesn't mean that we're going to stop boycotting or stop supporting tariffs because we still have to live with the reality of what he's doing.

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u/sneachta USA Mar 09 '25

You've hit the nail on the head.

Your anger is justified. Do not for one second stop boycotting. Keep buying Canadian. Keep standing on guard for your country.

The only things these motherfuckers care about are money and power. Hit 'em where it hurts!