Fears in Canada of being targeted by Trump – Bloomberg

The US president’s actions in Venezuela and Greenland threats have raised concerns of an imminent challenge to Canadian sovereignty

There are increasing fears in Canada that the country could become Washington’s next target following the shock abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and US President Donald Trump’s talk of seizing Greenland, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.

The outlet spoke to the authors of a recent viral column in the Globe and Mail newspaper, which has warned that Trump could use “military coercion” against Canada, pointing to his past remarks of making it the “51st US state.” 

The authors, former foreign affairs adviser Adam Gordon and academic Thomas Homer-Dixon, noted in their report that “nothing in international law protects Canada that shouldn’t have protected Venezuela,” suggesting Trump could similarly apply force to seize Canada’s oil resources.

They also expressed concern about US political interference to support separatist sentiment in Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta. One of the organizers of the separatist movement, which aims to break away from Canada and join the US, Jeffrey Rath, told Bloomberg that he has already met with US State Department officials who support his cause. However, he has refused to disclose their names and the State Department has declined to comment.

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Canada must make it “clear” that actions against its sovereignty would be “enormously costly” for the US, the authors told Bloomberg, urging Ottawa to invest in national service and homeland defense, develop a national drone strategy, and rapidly build out domestic defense industries.

Trump has already exerted significant economic pressure on Ottawa throughout the past year, imposing tariffs of up to 35% on a wide range of goods while threatening to expand them to even more sectors. He has justified the pressure by accusing Canada of exploiting US trade.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has worked to improve relations with Trump, removing some of his predecessor’s counter-tariffs and boosting defense spending. However, analysts warn concessions could lead to eroded sovereignty. 

“Are we already a vassal state, and we just won’t admit it to ourselves?” Carleton University professor Philippe Lagasse asked in a statement to Bloomberg, suggesting Canada could end up “basically a tributary.”