# The United States Declares Economic War on Canada **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 1, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734 "2025-02-01T21:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1001 "2025-03-20T08:59:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No, if Canada merged with the US, universal health care absolutely would **not** be possible any more – … Bunch of reasons listed that all have solutions and are just excuses. The same as most of the other objections I’ve heard so far. No reason to go over them other than the last one which would be to implement a residency requirement to access the system. Simple solution, problem solved. Most of the others have similar solutions. That you can’t see them is because you don’t want to see them. I’m not the one who is wrong here. It is just your hate for Americans (and Albertans) that fuels your inability to think rationally. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1002 "2025-03-20T09:10:11Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Bunch of reasons listed that all have solutions and are just excuses. The same as most of the other objections I’ve heard so far. No, you are simply ignoring what Trump and America are actually like to project some totally imaginary version of what the conquest of Canada would _actually_ be like. People who think national health care is evil and that Canadians need to be punished for their defiance are _never_ going to allow it to continue. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1003 "2025-03-20T09:58:18Z")
I tell you why it won’t be like that or won’t happen at all. Yes, Trump is crazy, but not everyone is. The difference is social media and all the pictures and video from such an invasion. The difference is that because Americans and Canadians are so alike, no one wants to see pictures of bombed out cities that are essentially duplicates of their own. It is quite different to see Iraqis and Afghanis blown up, but not so much when it is your neighbor and they look and act like you and it is likely that you know someone from there. So, any invasion, assuming it happens at all, will be very surgical with the minimum damage. Why do that when you could crush it economically? If you want to fast track it, implement an embargo. Again, it is one thing to bomb Tehran and another to do the same to Toronto. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1004 "2025-03-20T10:56:29Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Bunch of reasons listed that all have solutions and are just excuses. So what are those solutions? And if any of them require “money”, you must address the context in which your wonder solutions are happening. 1. Trump has said our taxes will go down. That’s his big plus for us. Our taxes pay for the healthcare system. If taxes go down, where does the money come from? 2. Our healthcare system keeps costs lower than the US because we insist on negotiating things like drug prices as a country, which gives us enough leverage to have a huge effect. Such negotiations are largely specifically banned in the US. So costs will rise, even as tax revenue falls. So where will this _extra_ money come from? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1005 "2025-03-20T11:43:05Z")
Much like the AHCA (“Obamacare”) funneled _millions_ of new customers to the Godforsaken US for-profit health insurance industry, why would _anybody_ believe that the 40 million Canadians wouldn’t be viewed as a similar industry bonanza? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1006 "2025-03-20T13:28:50Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > It is quite different to see Iraqis and Afghanis blown up, but not so much when it is your neighbor and they look and act like you and it is likely that you know someone from there. Rural MAGAts _do not see urban people as humans like themselves._ They perceive _all_ cities as full of brown people, immigrants, and leftists. They perceive all cities as dangerous and hostile. They won’t have any problem bombing cities. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Much like the AHCA (“Obamacare”) funneled _millions_ of new customers to the Godforsaken US for-profit health insurance industry, why would _anybody_ believe that the 40 million Canadians wouldn’t be viewed as a similar industry bonanza? Yeah, that solution “sucked” - on the other hand prior to that those millions had NO access to the US healthcare system _at all._ So.. yeah, it sucked, but not as badly as the situation before it was enacted. Which shows just how shitty the US health"care" system really is. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1007 "2025-03-20T14:12:04Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > It is quite different to see Iraqis and Afghanis blown up, but not so much when it is your neighbor and they look and act like you and it is likely that you know someone from there. Humans blow up their neighbors all the time. Sometimes including the neighbors who live right next door and who they were having dinner with last year. What species do you think you’re a part of? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1008 "2025-03-20T16:41:02Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > The difference is that because Americans and Canadians are so alike, no one wants to see pictures of bombed out cities that are essentially duplicates of their own. Canada is regarded as full of “liberals and socialists”, which in the eyes of the faction running the country is synonymous with “Satanic pedophiles”. They _will_ want to see the cities burn, the population tortured & massacred, and mass rape. They’d be _ecstatic_ to watch it all live on TV; every dead Canadian and raped woman will be a victory for God. Other Americans disagree, but they no longer have a say in the matter and never will again. Our corpses will join yours on the pile soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1009 "2025-03-20T16:57:03Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > > [@Uzi](#): > > > > But at the same time, those who vote for Prime Minister Black Face and his clones are idiots. > > And I would say that for those that voted in Danielle Smith and her idea that Alberta should get 60% of CPP. Which is why I have since called her Danielle “steal”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1010 "2025-03-20T22:47:13Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > No, if Canada merged with the US, universal health care absolutely would **not** be possible any more – … > > Bunch of reasons listed that all have solutions and are just excuses. The same as most of the other objections I’ve heard so far. > No reason to go over them other than the last one which would be to implement a residency requirement to access the system. Simple solution, problem solved. Most of the others have similar solutions. That you can’t see them is because you don’t want to see them. I’m not the one who is wrong here. It is just your hate for Americans (and Albertans) that fuels your inability to think rationally. That has to be one of the funniest posts I’ve ever seen on the board! 😀 Let me summarize the ongoing arguments for those that haven’t bothered to read them. It basically goes like this: You said that Canadians are “just like Americans” (wrong!). You said that universal health care could still work here after a merger with the US (wrong!). I said that there is an endless list of insurmountable problems in setting up a state-based universal health care system. I listed some of the biggest ones, showing why it could never work. But you claim, without a shred of evidence, that each such problem has an imaginary solution, none of which solutions you’ve even tried to present (the “residency status” argument against medical tourism is total bullshit and is virtually unenforceable – the critical no-exceptions requirement here for access to the medical care system is proof of legal residency **in Canada** ). The other huge obstacles to state-based UHC within the US you never even **tried** to address). According to you, the fact that it’s never been done despite concerted efforts is not relevant. We should believe that it can be done because you say so, despite all the evidence to the contrary. I’ll go along with a previous poster and take the position that there’s no point in having a good-faith discussion with you about this. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1011 "2025-03-21T00:58:06Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > He was a cheerful, funny guy who expressed surprise that people sometimes didn’t realize it was a satirical paper, kinda like Canada’s version of _The Onion_. That surprised him? Does he know nothing about the history of satire? Didn’t do “A Modest Proposal” in high school? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1012 "2025-03-21T01:01:39Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > It is quite different to see Iraqis and Afghanis blown up, but not so much when it is your neighbor and they look and act like you and it is likely that you know someone from there. Dude, where have you been for the last, you know, your entire life? Ever heard of Yugoslavia? Rwanda? Myanmar? Yemen? UKRAINE? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1013 "2025-03-21T01:21:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You said that Canadians are “just like Americans” (wrong!). Compared to Yemenis, they are the same. Compared to Russians, they are the same. That you don’t see it is not something I can fix. > But you claim, without a shred of evidence, that each such problem has an imaginary solution, none of which solutions you’ve even tried to present (the “residency status” argument against medical tourism is total bullshit and is virtually unenforceable You can’t even accept that Canadians and Americans are more similar than different. Why would you accept any argument I’d make on anything else. I could say that adding the amount of left leaning representatives to congress would allow a block to form to make laws on lobbying that could limit big pharma. I could say that having ID’s, or like in Canada now, presenting my health card, ensures that I don’t get charged for the services I use. If someone from another state comes to your state’s hospital, they get charged like any other user. All solutions, its as if you think that UHC magically appeared in Canada and there were no issues getting is installed. Every single issue blocking UHC has a solution. Choose to fix it. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1014 "2025-03-21T01:25:41Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > I could say that having ID’s, or like in Canada now, presenting my health card, ensures that I don’t get charged for the services I use. If someone from another state comes to your state’s hospital, they get charged like any other user. Health care is delivered by the provinces under the Canadian constitution but funded by the Feds. What do you think is going to happen under Trumpschulss? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1015 "2025-03-21T01:28:39Z")
Look, we all accept that Americans and Canadians are more like each other than they are like a culture such as Rwanda or Mongolia. This similarity does arise, in large part, from our histories as a colony of England \> UK. What you don’t seem to get is that a few of those differences are so fundamental as to make them permanently distinct. Language? Similar, except that Canada is officially bilingual at the federal level, and has a significant Francophone minority. The US has a significant Spanish-speaking minority, but there is no majority hispanophone state and there is no official policy of bilingualism at the federal level. Can you imagine US presidential candidates holding debates in two languages? That’s expected here for candidates for PM. Canada has a very, very different attitude to: 1. guns 2. healthcare 3. how a democratic republic is governed (our Westminster-style parliament, the relation between the provinces and the federal government, criminal codes… it’s a long list) and also a very different history. You gloss over these things as if they were incidental rather than fundamental. It’s not that Americans and Canadians don’t have a lot of common ground, it’s that they’re not remotely close to “same” and only really “similar” when you ignore some whomping great differences. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1016 "2025-03-21T01:32:03Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Compared to Yemenis, they are the same. Compared to Russians, they are the same. That you don’t see it is not something I can fix. And – to my earlier point – compared to a ball bearing, _you_ are _exactly like_ a chimpanzee. I wish you and your arboreal progeny nothing but the best. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1017 "2025-03-21T01:34:27Z")
It’s called using an (in this case, totally contrived) _average_ where a _weighted average_ is infinitely more appropriate. > A statistician stuck his head in an oven and his feet in a refrigerator. But on average the temperature was just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1018 "2025-03-21T01:38:10Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Health care is delivered by the provinces under the Canadian constitution but funded by the Feds. What do you think is going to happen under Trumpschulss? There is only one taxpayer. The provinces pay 78% of the bill. [https://www.cma.ca/how-health-care-funded-canada#:~:text=More%20than%2070%25%20of%20health,since%20Medicare%20was%20first%20established](https://www.cma.ca/how-health-care-funded-canada#:~:text=More%20than%2070%25%20of%20health,since%20Medicare%20was%20first%20established). ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1019 "2025-03-21T01:43:42Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > What do you think is going to happen under Trumpschulss? This seems like the stronger argument. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Health care is delivered by the provinces under the Canadian constitution but funded by the Feds. While this seems like the weaker/far less important argument. @Uzi why not try to argue against the stronger argument, here? > **[The Steel Man Technique - Centre for Alternative Technology](https://cat.org.uk/external-resources/the-steel-man-technique/)** > > How To Argue Better And Be More Persuasive. > [@](#): > > Put simply, the Steel Man Technique is to build the best form of the other side’s argument and then engage with it. It is a contrast to the fallacious ‘straw man’ technique, where one side creates only a caricature of the other side’s argument and engages with that. > > People want to have their thoughts taken seriously and not brushed aside. The best way to do this is to show that you understand the thrust of their arguments by improving on the way the core idea is expressed. Anything less and you’ll merely be attacking a weak manifestation of an idea, and not the idea itself. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/1020 "2025-03-21T01:45:48Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > You gloss over these things as if they were incidental rather than fundamental. It’s not that Americans and Canadians don’t have a lot of common ground, it’s that they’re not remotely close to “same” and only really “similar” when you ignore some whomping great differences. Hell, even rural/suburban architecture differs. I live in Massachusetts; some years ago visited a friend in Ontario, and was immediately struck by differences between what houses and downtowns of pretty much the same vintage in much of New England the Canadian equivalents looked like. It wasn’t an _OMG where am I?_ difference, but it was there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734.md?page=52)