Dear America,

Our two countries have been allies in one form or another since 1867.  We’ve supported each other through thick, and thin, and everything in between.  90% of our population live within a couple of hours of our border.

There’s no easy way to say, so I’ll be blunt: America, you have a problem with your President.  He’s so erratic, it gives whiplash. What’s up is down, and good is bad  Trudeau criticized,  Un good.  Theresa May doing a bad job with Brexit, Putin good.  Bilateral trade deals yes,  no to trilateral trade deals.

His attitudes towards immigrants are something else.  Putting kids into camps along the Mexican border, banning people from Muslim majority countries.  Apparent sympathies towards what kindly would be termed the “alt right,” but is also known as neo Nazis.

There’s also the media.  Journalists make mistakes, and the good ones admit it.  But by no means do they deserve the term ‘fake news’ to be used simply to excuse stories Trump doesn’t like.  He underestimates the power of the Presidency; when he says something, people automatically believe it.  It undermines the spirit of the free press.

America, you’ve got to do something about this guy.  It’s starting to affect your relationships.  You don’t realize how powerful you are America.  The western world turns on your axis.  Look at NAFTA.  $2 billion/ year cross between our countries working out to millions/ day.  29 of your states import products from Canada.  The agreement collapses, and that’s a sizable chunk of our collective economy is gone.  It’ll take years to recover, if we can.

That display with Putin was the last straw.  Your President sided with your country’s enemy, and NATO’s enemy.  The last I checked America, that might be counted as treason.  Didn’t that used to be punished by death? I know he’s trying to walk things back, but there are some comments that can’t be erased.  And his actions in Helsinki aren’t so easily forgiven.

I don’t take delight in saying any of this America.  Someone has to say it though, and why not a friend eh?

Signed

A Concerned Canadian