# What is to stop the U.S. from invading Canada? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650 "2000-09-01T15:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Scribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/21 "2000-09-01T18:10:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*I doubt that any US president wants to deal with the hassles of Quebec. \*\* FWIW, Canadian political columnist Ted Byfield recently explained why Manifest Destiny is basically dead. He noted that the United States gets pretty well most of the benefits of annexing Canada, without the problems. Canada’s resources? The US has excellent access to them. Canada’s brains? Lower US taxation attracts a lot of Canadians to the US to do research and work. Our hockey teams move south too. If the U.S. took over Canada, you’d get all our lovely national problems, such as dealing with Quebec separatism (as BobT noted above), redeveloping the Maritimes, and helping our natives with their land claims, poverty, etc. Also, FWIW, Canadian novelist Richard Rohmer (sp?) did a novel on a US takeover in the 1970s. (His sequel to Ultimatum…title escapes me). His theory…the US sends troops to take the airports in a limited war type of conquest, and is repulsed, IIRC.) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/22 "2000-09-01T18:58:02Z")
Speaking as a guy from Washington DC. _looks threatening_ Hand over the Expos and you can keep the country. Oh! And give me a sixpack too! ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/23 "2000-09-01T19:23:40Z")
What about if Quebec seceded from Canada? The U.S. would be forced to pick sides, that would be one way to start a war with Canada. When I am President (running in 2008), I’m going to do it as part of my plan to take over the entire world. ---
**Author:** ![mealypotaotes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@mealypotaotes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mealypotaotes)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/24 "2000-09-01T19:31:10Z")
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the U.K. Canada, as a member of the Commonweath, has a defence-pact with the Brits, and a number of Carribean nations as well. Suppose the US did invade Canada. No Question, the Canadian army would inflict some serious damage on the first Americans across the border - Every summer in camp Gagetown in New Brunswick, the Canadian army has a series of war-games against a variety of US troops (Army, National Guard, Marines). The Canadians win every time. On one hand, this can be credited to the controlled conditions of the war-games, but on another, the US armed forces still employ doctrine designed to defend against/attack wide open plains and steppes of Europe (which is why the formations worked so well in the deserts of Iraq). Canada is big, ful of mountains, woods, lakes, rivers, and rocks. Lots of stuff for an out-gunned army of defenders to hide behind and ambush advancing columns. And remember that the border works both ways. Canadian special forces (yes, they exist - Joint Task Force 2 to be precise) could do some nasty sneakiness simply by walking across at night. None of this resistance would compare to the effect the Brits would have on entering the fray. A few US ships sunk to stealthy British subs (every bit as good as Americans, and equally hard to find), a couple of short bombing runs on Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Buffalo would start weakening the resolve of the good citizenry of the USA (well, maybe not Buffalo - how could you tell?). Throw in a few raids on the gulf coast and Florida Keys by Jamaica, Bermuda, Cuba (Always Canada’s friend in the Carribbean) and the USA stars to look more than a little vulnerable itself. ---
**Author:** ![INTERPRETER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dbc845/32.png) [@INTERPRETER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/INTERPRETER)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/25 "2000-09-01T19:57:47Z")
I don’t know if any of our American friends have looked closely recently but we’ve sent our extensively well-trained army of retired folks in Florida and now we rule there! ---
**Author:** ![\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e47c2d/32.png) [@\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Tim)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/26 "2000-09-01T20:29:49Z")
blessedwolf said: > [@](#): > > Let me get this straight: The U.S. funds the the U.N.? This has got to be a financial theory on the same level as Reaganomics. > > ``` > How do we manage to keep from paying MILLIONS of dollars in U.N. dues for years (I'm not sure what the amount is, but add a decimal point midway through the figure, give that moneyto me, and I could retire) and still give financial support? > > The only thing we give the U.N. is our inflated sense of ego and a few square acres of land (which would probably be more appropriate in Switzerland, but that's a whole different thread). > > ``` This is, of course, false. It is true that the US hasn’t paid the total of the assessment voted by the General Assembly. This assessment is invariably 25% of the total, as that’s the maximum they are allowed to assess any one nation. The US does pay more than any other nation. (Japan was second at 17.98%; Germany was a distant third at 9.63%) See this UN site; it’s skewed to try to inspire the US to pay up the ‘debt’, but the 25% number is telling. (Actually, 25% is probably pretty reasonable, but the notion of the US ‘owing’ the UN 25% of its budget is irksome to me conceptually.) For scale, the total expenditures of all the UN system was 10.6 billion in 1997. As of May 31, the US ‘owed’ the UN about $460 million in the general budget and 1.3 billion in peacekeeping and for international tribunals. This is a little over a year of ‘contributions’ to these sub-entities. On the OP, I agree with lessener, Scribe, blessedwolf, BobT, etc. that the US simply doesn’t care enough. The US could probably win in a very pyrrhic victory, but it would be extremely stupid to do so. ---
**Author:** ![TampaFlyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@TampaFlyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TampaFlyer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/27 "2000-09-01T20:31:06Z")
\> The only thing we give the U.N. is our inflated sense of ego Huh? The US pays about 1/4 of the UN’s budget, far more than any other country does, not to mention the billions we’ve spent on UN military missions. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/28 "2000-09-01T20:46:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by INTERPRETER \* > I don’t know if any of our American friends have looked closely recently but we’ve sent our extensively well-trained army of retired folks in Florida and now we rule there! True, you do have Disney World surrounded, but only for half the year. From what I understand, to qualify for free health care, Canadians have to spend at least 6 months a year in Canada. Has it occured to anyone that those retirees are among the few Canadians who actually get to see NHL games in person? ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/29 "2000-09-01T20:51:41Z")
read infinite jest. a major subplot involves renegade Quebecois separatists who wage war (rather successfully) upon what today is the U.S. good book. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/30 "2000-09-01T21:04:43Z")
“Hey Canada, we’re outta wood.” - Jon Stewart ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/31 "2000-09-01T21:12:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mealypotaotes \* > **I’m surprised nobody mentioned the U.K. Canada, as a member of the Commonweath, has a defence-pact with the Brits, and a number of Carribean nations as well.** If the invasion could gain widespread public approval in the US, I think that Canada would probably fall as quickly and easily as Czechoslovakia & Poland did to Germany. Sure, there would be a few skirmishes, but I really wonder if Canada would put forth the effort to try to resist the most advanced, largest, and most powerful military machine in existence. No matter how well-trained their soldiers may be, and no matter how well they do in wargames, there’s no substitute for money and numbers. But the US military has not only money and numbers, but also technology and superb training. To be honest, I think Canadian citizens taking to the hills and striking Red Dawn-style would be more of a problem to an occupying force than their armed forces. (can Canadians own personal firearms? I don’t know) As for the UK coming to their defense, I wonder whether they would fight against a very powerful and rich ally in the defense of a weak and not particularly influential one. Assuming they _did_ want to fight, given the degree to which the US Navy rules the sea, I doubt even the British could transport a sufficient force across the Atlantic. IMO, Money, technology, and (let’s face it) sheer numbers make it impractical for anything less than a coalition of most of the industrialized military nations to take on the US in a conventional war and hope to win. At this point in history, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/32 "2000-09-01T21:27:01Z")
Of course, this is more of a “what if it did happen” scenario, not an opinion on why it might. I honestly believe it never will, and hope that it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![tomas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tomas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomas)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/33 "2000-09-01T22:16:26Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by mealypotaotes \* \*\*I’m surprised nobody mentioned the U.K. Canada, as a member of the Commonweath, has a defence-pact with the Brits, and a number of Carribean nations as well ------------ We would have to take them both on at once? Now that is scary! Those tough Brits and those kick-ass Kanucs!OOOOhhh, My ass puckers just thinkin’ about it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tomas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tomas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomas)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/34 "2000-09-01T22:20:57Z")
BTW-- Just kiddin’! I have a lot of admiration for both countries, so don’t have a hissy-fit. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/35 "2000-09-01T22:33:58Z")
Russia is only 20 miles from Alaska. Yet we never attacked there. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/36 "2000-09-01T22:44:57Z")
Hey, we could always retaliate. Celine Dion does not have to stay in retirement… _menacing sneer_ ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/37 "2000-09-01T22:47:04Z")
**Why don’t I ever get all of this in one post?** I think John Corrado had it right on the money. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/38 "2000-09-01T23:07:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > Russia is only 20 miles from Alaska. Yet we never attacked there. Actually only 3 miles, if you count the Diomede Islands. But while there’s never been an attack across the Bering Strait, that doesn’t mean the US has never invaded Russia. ---
**Author:** ![chadg033](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@chadg033](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chadg033)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/39 "2000-09-01T23:27:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CKDextHavn \* > \*\*Why pick on Canada? What if the President decided to invade, say, Texas? The goal would be to bring Texas forcibly into the Union. Who would stop him? > > \*\* Well, the Texans of course! And we do have plenty of guns and ammunition. One of texas’ major ‘exports’ to other states are weapons. And every flea market/swap meet/pawn shop has some weaponry of some sort. So, if you really think about it, you can’t go more than 500 ft in any direction in Dallas/Ft. Worth without encountering some sort of arms store. And with tons of Texas natives willing to take up said arms and defend our borders, it would be very messy. Did I mention how eager natives around here are to fire guns? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650/40 "2000-09-02T01:14:23Z")
As for the unpaid UN dues…isn’t there some wacko politician here refusing to pay them because we support countries where abortion is legal or something like that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-to-stop-the-u-s-from-invading-canada/31650.md?page=3)