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51st state? Bring it on, these Canadians say.

51st state? Bring it on, these Canadians say.

Washington Post5 days ago

CALGARY, Alberta — As President Donald Trump visits western Canada for this week's Group of Seven economic summit, a passionate minority is thrilled by his talk of making them part of a 51st state.
Across most of Canada, Trump's annexation talk has caused outrage. His antagonism has stirred displays of flag-waving patriotism that are unusual here. In downtown Calgary, shops that sell maple syrup and other Canadian souvenirs have seen a surge in purchases of Canadian-flag lapel pins. A bookstore says 'Proudly Canadian' in its window.
But the U.S. president's expansionist designs have also galvanized a 'Make Alberta Great Again' movement, which has gained traction among some in western Canada long frustrated by a Liberal government that they say stifles the oil and gas industry that drives their economy. For them, Trump's 51st-state talk is not a provocation, but a chance for lower taxes, Second Amendment gun rights and a shot at the American Dream.
At the Red Deer Curling Center, about 90 miles north of Calgary, hundreds of Albertans gathered Saturday to discuss their frustrations with Ottawa at an event hosted by the right-wing media company Rebel News. Several in the crowd wore black or red Make Alberta Great Again caps, and provincial flags flew from their trucks in the packed parking lot. Most cheered as a speaker standing in front of a black curtain that partially covered the rink's scoreboard made the case for forming a 51st state.
Jacob Fraser, selling bags of Resistance Coffee at the event, said he was 'excited' when Trump began talking about annexing all or part of Canada. The 37-year-old sees joining the United States as an opportunity to gain more freedom of speech, more gun rights and more opportunities to pursue his own businesses.
'We're very much intertwined with the States, and as Albertans, especially, we're very much more compatible with the American perspectives than the current Canadian perspective,' he said. 'For me and a lot of my social groups, it's a hopeful moment and an exciting time in history.'
Nationwide, that's clearly a minority view. Backlash to Trump, who was set to arrive here Sunday night, helped fuel Prime Minister Mark Carney's victory in late April — a stunning comeback by his Liberal Party over the Conservatives, who had a healthy lead before Trump's taunts.
About 15 percent of all Canadians supported joining the United States as of a January poll by YouGov. That percentage was slightly larger in the prairie provinces, including Alberta — 'Canada's Texas' — where some say they have more in common with Republicans in the U.S. than with their compatriots in the rest of the country.
Albertans who support joining the U.S. are a faction of a broader group of western Canadians who are alienated by Canada's government. They have made their presence visible with billboards and blue-rubber bracelets that say 'AB USA.'
Shawn Harvey, a 52-year-old oil-field-tanker driver who lives in Edmonton, flaunted his support for joining the U.S. with a red, white and blue hockey jersey emblazoned with the number 51 and Trump's slogan 'Drill Baby Drill.'
He has talked to immigration attorneys about attempting to seek political asylum in the U.S., and he is ready to make a deal with any liberal Americans who are considering a move to Canada to seek refuge from the second Trump administration.
'I'll trade places with them any day,' Harvey said during an interview in Edmonton at Montana's, a Canadian barbecue restaurant chain with antlers hanging on the walls. 'I'll burn my Canadian passport right in front of them, and I'll go there. No problem.'
Feelings of discontent and alienation have long ebbed and flowed in the western prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, home to natural resources such as crude oil, natural gas, potash and uranium. They rose after the 2019 federal elections, in which then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were shut out here but won enough seats in the rest of the country to form the government.
In this year's elections, the Liberals won just 28 percent of the vote in Alberta. Whether Carney, who was raised in Edmonton, can placate prairie voters will pose an early test for the new prime minister. He has tried to mollify the disquiet, promising to make Canada 'the world's leading energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.'
Alberta could hold a referendum as soon as next year to ask voters whether they support separating from Canada. Polls show limited support for separatism, but the provincial government recently passed a law that makes it much easier for citizens to initiate a referendum on constitutional matters.
Such a separation would be 'very unlikely,' said Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary.
And even if separation was approved, it would not necessarily lead to becoming part of the United States. Even many of the Canadians who support an independent Alberta are skeptical of attempting to join the U.S.
'Why go from one master to another master?' said Art Matsui, a 68-year-old resident of Calgary, who began to support Alberta independence in 2020 because he disagreed with the Canadian government's pandemic policies.
Chances of the U.S. annexing Canada or one of its provinces are small. Both countries have constitutional barriers to such a move and limited political appetite to overcome those obstacles. Other provinces would be likely to block Alberta from leaving Canada, and in the U.S., Congress would have to pass a law to admit any new state.
Ardent supporters of secession insist, however, that a split between Alberta and the rest of Canada is inevitable. They see joining the U.S. as the best step to address the economic and security challenges that a split could create.
'So why don't we just join the United States now?' said Peter Downing, an Edmonton-area separatist who previously led a political party called Wexit, a portmanteau of 'western' and 'exit.'
More than four years before Trump told Trudeau that he wanted to make Canada the 51st U.S. state, Downing bought a giant billboard on the road to the province's legislative assembly that asked, 'Should Alberta join the U.S.?' The billboard featured a giant image of Trump's face.
After Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020, Downing began to make inroads with conservatives in the U.S., even paying a visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he said he missed a run-in with Trump by only a few minutes.
How Trump became fixated on annexing Canada remains unclear. A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail the president's thinking, told The Washington Post in March that the 51st-state concept sprang spontaneously into Trump's mind, that it is a serious proposal, and that it is motivated by his belief that annexation would benefit Americans and Canadians alike.
After Trump floated the idea, Downing put up another huge billboard that pictured Trump visiting with Alberta's Conservative Premier Danielle Smith at Mar-a-Lago.
'Tell Danielle! Let's Join the United States,' it said.
The billboard featured a link for a website that laid out arguments for Alberta to join the U.S., which included lower taxes as well as national security.
Smith ultimately said she opposed any effort to join the U.S. — or to separate from Canada.
Trump's visit is likely to intensify the debate, even as it strengthens the backlash among most Canadians to his policies.
Protests of Trump's visit have been planned, and some of his critics say he should not be allowed to enter the country because felons are often inadmissible to Canada.
In grocery stores, stickers on products note that they were made in Canada, a sign of how some Canadians are boycotting U.S. goods and travel.
Sales of T-shirts that say 'Canadian' and other products have surged at Local Laundry, a Calgary clothing store that manufactures its products domestically. The business has grown 100 percent year over year and is on track to do its best year ever, said Connor Curran, the company's founder.
'It hit us a like a tsunami,' Curran said. 'People coming from all over the country wanting to support Canadian-made.'
Calgary-based Process Color Print, which manufactures flags, has experienced the growing polarization of debate. The company saw a surge in sales of Canadian flags in February following Trump's comments. Many people in the city are just hanging the flags in their windows or directly on their houses because they don't have flagpoles, said Candice Mauro, the company's president.
'Our business is so booming,' Mauro said. She said it has been difficult to keep up with customer demand, and employees in the flag division are working overtime.
In the weeks since April's elections, Mauro said, she has seen a 30 percent jump in flag sales. But this time, the demand is for the ultramarine Alberta provincial flag.

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