Millions of Americans have learned over the past decade that President Trump says many astounding and shocking things. Some of his pronouncements are for show, for impact, or as a negotiating technique. Some statements are serious and the difficulty often is deciphering which statements are which.
An excellent example of this “Trump phenomenon” is the president’s recent suggestion that Canada ought to become the 51st state. Most people have dismissed the idea as simply a way of irritating Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau or drawing attention to negotiations on the U.S.’s trade agreements with Canada and security on our common northern border.
However, the idea now has been mentioned often enough and discussed at least semi-seriously, that it is time to address the idea soberly, weighing the pros and cons.
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While merging Canada into the United States as the 51st state might make economic sense and could offer strategic military advantages in defending the northern parts of North America in the increasingly strategic Arctic Region, adding Canada to America as the 51st state is a really bad idea.
We all know man doesn’t live by economy alone and a country is much more than its gross domestic product (GDP). A country develops its own unique culture based on its population’s shared experience over time. America and Canada have very different cultures with different values and opinions about a whole host of important issues developed over centuries of differing experiences.
As Americans, we are often seduced into thinking we are more alike than we actually are with Canada because we speak a common language. I first discovered the seductive and misleading impact of language when I lived in Oxford, England (1972-1975). My wife and I resided in a small village just south of Oxford and we were the only Americans in the village. It became clear to us very quickly that while we spoke at least a very similar language as our English neighbors, we had very different values and ideas about a myriad of subjects.
For example, I am from what the English would describe as a “working class” background since my father was a welder and my mother was a homemaker, and I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. Since I was in Oxford matriculating for a doctorate after having graduated from Princeton and seminary, I actually had some folks say they perceived me as “a traitor to my class” for being upwardly socially mobile in a way that is usually applauded and encouraged in America.
The longer we lived in England, the more we realized the many differing cultural assumptions and values, even though we developed many close and lasting friendships among our English neighbors.
Based on my interactions with, and my observations of Canadians, I would argue that similar cultural differences exist between Americans and their Canadian neighbors. We are differing societies with differing histories from the beginning. America was born out of a “revolution” while Canadian society’s first families came from the Loyalists who supported the Crown in the American Revolution. Consequently, they have, in the intervening years, placed more emphasis on order than on what we Americans call “liberty.”
If America attempted to digest Canada as its 51st state, it would cause severe indigestion both among Americans and Canadians. First, it would seriously alter the political landscape of America. In American political terms, Canada leans heavily toward the policies of the American Democrat Party. Currently, there are 40 million Canadians which would make Canada the most populous state with the most electoral votes.
Polling shows that in the 2024 presidential election, 64% of Canadians supported Kamala Harris and 21% favored President Trump. Canada would have had 55 electoral votes. While Trump would still have won (312 Electoral Votes to 281 Electoral Votes), Republicans would start each presidential election cycle with at least 55 Canadian electoral votes stacked against them.
In the Congress, two Canadian senators (presently Democrat) would still leave the current Senate in Republican hands (53-49). However, the House would go from the current 220 to 215 Republican majority to a Democratic majority of 246 to 234, according to a New York Times article.
These figures would lead one to believe that Canada becoming the 51st state would inaugurate a Democrat majority for the foreseeable future even if Quebec (the French-speaking province of 9 million people) decided to declare itself an independent country rather than join the United States (a distinct possibility).
All this evidence would mitigate against Canada becoming one of the United States. However, if it did happen it would turn America far more blue politically, much to the displeasure of approximately half of America’s populace.
Don’t be seduced by the siren song of a similar language. Canada is a different country, with a different history, a different dream, and different values. Let us resolve to remain allies and friends who respect each other, but not attempt to become fellow countrymen.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
