The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Oh, Canada

There has been much talk about Canada becoming the 51st state in the Union ever since President-elect Trump chided Prime Minister Trudeau about Canadian policies that are harmful to America. While the Canadian policies need to be reformed to make them more equitable and fair, as well as to assure the safety of America, the issue of statehood for Canada is continuous (and maybe facetious and not serious), yet it may not be a bad idea but fraught with difficulties to achieve.  

The union of America and Canada would make the United States the world’s economic powerhouse and facilitate commerce north of the Mexican border. It would also strengthen the security of both America and Canada against aggressive actions by both Russia and China. This, along with the acquisition of Greenland, as I have written in my Article "Is It Time to Purchase Greenland?", would protect North America from any aggressive actions by any nation or coalition of nations.

As Canadian investor and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary has said:

“Combining our countries together with a common currency, a viable passporting system after you're approved as they have in EU, we'd be the most powerful nation on earth. Unlimited water, unlimited power, and unlimited reserves of every kind....The ideas are simple, common currency, common defense of the north against the Chinese....Combined, we're the richest nation on earth by every single measure. We got everything we need. We don't need anything from anybody. And nobody should mess with us. Strength, economic strength is power. And we should show the Chinese, don't screw with us.”

Yet, with a population of approximately 41 million persons, Canada may be too large to be admitted as one state, and it could result in an imbalance of political power between the states. According to the Wikipedia article Provinces and territories of Canada, the following map and data on the ten provinces, their capitals/cities, and the population of Canada:

Alberta	Edmonton/Calgary	4,888,723
British Columbia	Victoria / Vancouver	5,698,430
Manitoba	Winnipeg	1,494,301
New Brunswick	Fredericton / Moncton	854,355
Newfoundland and Labrador	St. John's	545,247
Nova Scotia	Halifax	1,076,374
Ontario	Toronto	16,124,116
Prince Edward Island	Charlottetown	178,550
Quebec	Quebec City / Montreal	9,056,044
Saskatchewan	Regina / Saskatoon	1,239,865
	Total Population	41,156,005

In addition, Canada has three territories:

Northwest Territories	Yellowknife	44,731
Nunavut	Iqaluit	41,159
Yukon	Whitehorse	46,704
	Total Population	132,594

Consequently, I would suggest that Canada be admitted to America as three States and three Territories— East Canada, Ontario, West Canada, and the Northern Territories as follows:

East Canada (or Canada):
Quebec	Quebec City / Montreal	9,056,044
New Brunswick	Fredericton / Moncton	854,355
Nova Scotia	Halifax	1,076,374
Newfoundland and Labrador	St. John's	545,247
Prince Edward Island	Charlottetown	178,550
	Total Population	11,710,900
Ontario
Ontario	Toronto	16,124,116
West Canada
Manitoba	Winnipeg	1,494,301
Alberta	Edmonton/Calgary	4,888,723
Saskatchewan	Regina / Saskatoon	1,239,865
British Columbia	Victoria / Vancouver	5,698,430
	Total Population	13,321,319
Northern Territories
Northwest Territories	Yellowknife	44,731
Nunavut	Iqaluit	41,159
Yukon	Whitehorse	46,704
	Total Population	132,594

Of course, both the Canadian and American people would need to agree to such a union, but polls on both sides indicate there are no adverse hostile reactions to such a union. A calm, rational, and reasonable discussion on both sides of this union question would facilitate the resolution of the question of Canada's admittance into America.

However, the legal and political difficulties of such a union are complex, as the Toronto Star article “Donald Trump keeps trolling Canada about joining as the 51st state. It might be harder to do than he imagines” points out. In addition to the issues that the Toronto Star article points out, each Canadian State would have to adopt a Constitution compliant with the United States Constitution (but they have 50 examples of such a Constitution to work with), and their laws and judicial system would have to be modified to work within their new Constitution and the United States Constitution and laws. A grace period (three to five years) may be necessary for the new Canadian states to accommodate such changes, but such a grace period would smooth the transition. The United States would have to adjust the number of seats in the House of Representatives to accommodate the new Canadian States (probably by adding additional seats), and six additional seats in the Senate, and elections would have to be held in the new Canadia states to fill these Congressional seats. The physical structure of the U.S. Capital building may not be able to accommodate these new seats, and this issue would need to be resolved.

In addition, there is the issue of political balance. Canadians are generally more leftward in their politics, and there would be an American political concern that this would be advantageous to the Democrat Party in America (see the National Post article on “FIRST READING: Why the Americans would never, ever let Canada become a state” and the New York Post editorial “No, Canada! Despite Trump’s trolling, 51st state would drag the US down” by Rich Lowry). However, if President-elect Trump has a successful administration, many more Americans will lean Republican, and many Canadians may reconsider their leftward politics as they may want to participate in this success (there is nothing like success in generating political support). Having three Canadian States rather than one may lessen the leftward leanings of each Canadian State.

While the union of America and Canada would be a huge undertaking, in my opinion, the benefits to be obtained would far outweigh the costs incurred. However, the hurdles to overcome may be greater than what can be achieved. Nevertheless, a dialog between America and Canada discussing this issue may spur progress in settling our current differences to reach a satisfactory resolution to these other problems facing Canadian-American relations.