from Sine_Fine_Belli@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 06 Feb 2026 07:57
https://lemmy.world/post/42745823
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/46886810
The American president has invited Canada to become his country’s “51st state,” an idea that has infuriated most of Canada’s 40 million citizens.
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Hence this suggestion: Why not expand the EU to include Canada? Is that so far-fetched an idea? In any case, Canadians have actually considered the question themselves. In February 2025, a survey conducted by Abacus Data on a sample of 1,500 people found that 44% of those polled supported the idea, compared to 34% who opposed it. Better the 28th EU country than the 51st US state!
One might object: Canada is not European, as required for EU membership by Article 49 of the EU Treaty. But what does “European” actually mean? The word cannot be understood in a strictly geographic sense, or Cyprus, closer to Asia, would not be part of the EU. So the term must be understood in a cultural sense.
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As [Canadian Prime Minister Mark] Carney said in Paris, in March: Thanks to its French and British roots, Canada is “the most European of non-European countries.” He speaks from experience, having served as governor of the Bank of England (a post that is assigned based on merit, not nationality). Culturally and ideologically, Canada is close to European democracies: It shares the same belief in the welfare state, the same commitment to multilateralism and the same rejection of the death penalty or uncontrolled firearms.
Moreover, Canada is a Commonwealth monarchy that shares a king with the United Kingdom.
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Even short of a formal application, it would be wiser for Ottawa to strengthen its ties with European democracies rather than with the Chinese regime. The temptation is there: Just before heading to Davos, Carney signed an agreement with Beijing to lower tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China.
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#world
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The absolute audacity of the US to think they can just absorb Canada like some corporate merger. It is typical imperialist garbage. Trump calling it the 51st state isn’t just a joke, it’s a threat to everything that actually makes Canada decent, like not going bankrupt over a broken leg.
Honestly, the EU idea is a hell of a lot better than being tethered to the sinking ship that is the US right now. At least Europe cares about social safety nets and doesn’t worship firearms. Geography is just a detail at this point when your neighbor is actively trying to destabilize your government because you won’t kiss the ring.
Carney isn’t perfect, but he’s spot on about the old order being dead. If Canada doesn’t find a way to decouple from the US orbit, they’re just going to get dragged down with them. I’d take a seat in Brussels over being a vassal for Washington any day of the week.
Yes please! Gimme dat import tax free maple syrup 😍😋🤤
If you want maple syrup, I’ll send you some, I’ll even pay the taxes for you.
That’s my countryman right there 🫂
Does it make more sense to join great Britain if Canada is in their Commonwealth?
No it doesn’t, and the speech by Mark Carney in Davos explain why.
If you didn’t hear it, one of the things he emphasized about Canada being a good strategic partner was that Canada stands for stability.
This is very contrary to UK, that has been absolute chaos for a decade now due to Brexit.
But like Canada EU also stands for stability, so Canada and EU are good matches in that regard.
EU is also a strong cooperation between small and middle powers, much in line with what Carney say we need more of.
UK did the opposite, and broke the cooperation with 27 countries of EU.
UK does not stand for the dependability and cooperation among middle states that Mark Carney was calling for. EU does.
Yeah, I’m from Britain. You need to let them suffer a bit. Show them the mess they’ve made and rub their noses in it.
Nah, it’s just how it is.
Nah, there’s no way the Brits will swallow their pride and come back to EU in the next 10 to 20 years. They’ll first ask to come back with their exemptions, and then be furious the EU won’t allow them anymore.
They’ll probably still be banging on about bendy bananas. Or they will have voted reform, deported loads of people in the style of the Gestapo/ICE, burned down all the hotels, shut all ports and then be wondering why everything is worse than ever and if voting more right wing will help.
I would, but I voted against the whole mess anyway
It would be incredibly silly to voluntarily hitch yourself to the craziness which is post-brexit UK.
Joining the UK might shift the balance towards EU membership.
No. But Brexreenter might make sense and be more and more popular from what i heard (not easy though)
May i suggest Brejoin. Bre-enter, Breunite, Breturn?
Breturn of the King
I don’t think a lot of Canada likes the monarchy. It would probably galvanize the separatist movement of Quebec which is mostly dead now from what I understand.
The separatist movement is not dead at all. It continued to shape the province’s politics a lot, and also at the federal level.
And I can tell you, Canada ignoring Quebec’s opinion on this and joining the UK would furiously galvanize the Quebec independence movement.
No… ’tis a silly place.
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/e2fb7290-92dd-455f-824c-6fed672376fb.png">
I’d be ok joining the EU, I like how they do things. We’re pals, we can hang out more.
You would be more than welcome
Love you Europe.
This would be so meaningful and practical.
I feel it would help the light of democracy survive.
I stopped reading at “invited.” GTFO
But yes, I agree with the headline.
There is no way Canada could ever meet eu food and safety standards, we are too much like the Americans…
Our overall rankings are in line with EU states already. It would hardly be difficult to close gaps.
impact.economist.com/…/food-security-index/
Sort by quality and safety, and see who’s on top :)
Canada’s food safety regulations spits all over the American ones. When putting myself through university via the food service industry, I was shocked to learn how many hoops American companies have to jump through to meet our food safety standards.
Agreed until the “Rather than China”. Brother this is not a team sport. You can act like an adult and focus on mutilaterall growth rather than on the color of your flag.
<img alt="" src="https://media.piefed.social/posts/2x/8S/2x8S7GCHLcF8o9T.jpeg">
The freedom of movement would be great