Deutsche Welle :
“Blame Canada!” goes the satirical song from the 1999 animated comedy film “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” where a mother rallies her small Colorado town to confront youth degeneracy.
The song humorously shifts blame to America’s northern neighbor rather than United States government policies, parenting failures, or media influence, declaring, “We need to form a full assault – it’s Canada’s fault.”
Decades later, US President-elect Donald Trump appears to be channeling a similar energy, blaming Canada for illegal migration and drug trafficking across the northern border.
Weeks after winning a second term in the White House, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports – including cars and automotive parts – starting from his first day in office.
He has since stepped up his rhetoric, joking that Canada could even be annexed as the 51st US state. He even mocked the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who resigned last week amid plummeting approval ratings – by calling him the “Governor” of the “Great State of Canada.”
While some analysts believe the rhetoric is typical Trump bluster, his remarks have been widely condemned by Canadian politicians and economists as Canada wasn’t a major target for the Republican candidate during the US election campaign – unlike China, Mexico, BRICS and Nato.
“It came like a bolt from the blue,” Douglas Porter, chief economist of the Bank of Montreal (BMO), told DW, referring to Trump’s attack. “There was no groundswell among his supporters that saw Canada as a big villain … so I find this one a bit more unnerving.”
“Initially, there were concerns about the border, which I think Canada would be happy to address. Then there was talk about the US-Canada trade imbalance. And in his press conference the other day, Trump talked about imposing economic hardship on Canada,” he said.
Despite championing and signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which took effect in 2020, Trump now says Washington’s neighbors have failed to meet key terms in the accord, from border control to trade. The deal is up for review next year.
