On Canada Day, Celebrate Our Northern Neighbor’s Rejection of American Imperialism

The blog would like to take time out from the ongoing atrocities to wish our good friends to the north a very Happy Canada Day. I celebrate along with you, and not just for your ability to get all up in our president’s grill and stay there. I am as grateful for that as I am for your generosity in giving us Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell, and four-fifths of The Band, and Jean Beliveau, and, of course, poutine. (FYI: In Canada, by the way, National Poutine Day is April 11. Get in training now.) From my friend Stephen Marche in The Atlantic:

By now, the shock of American betrayal has worn off. Donald Trump’s threats of annexation by means of economic debilitation are no longer surprising. Unlike many Americans, Canadians have no option but to take these threats seriously. That’s why two months ago, in the most extraordinary election of my lifetime, Canadians chose Mark Carney to lead them away from America.

“The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War—a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity to our country for decades—is over,” Carney said in his victory speech. He has not backed down since his election. “A new imperialism threatens,” he said recently. “Middle powers must compete for interests and attention, knowing that if they’re not at the table, they’re on the menu.” Canada is still figuring out how to stay off the menu.

And it was a special surprise to me to learn that my maternal great-grandmother, Mary Ann Rice, was born in 1862 to Irish emigrant parents in ... New Brunswick! So have a great day, my northern brothers and sisters. Stay true. Stay strong and free. Set my compass north, I got winter in my blood.