‘Give Your Head a Shake!’: Former Canadian PM blasts Trump’s 51st state remark

“Give your head a shake!” Former Canadian PM Jean Chrétien rebukes Trump’s remark suggesting Canada join the US, calling it an “unprecedented threat” to sovereignty and emphasizing Canada’s independence and resilience.

Jean Chrétien, Canada’s prime minister from 1993 to 2003, joined other officials from the northern US neighbour in warning that Trump’s remarks are no longer a laughing matter and could harm America’s closest ally.

“Canada would never agree to become part of the United States,” Chrétien wrote in an article published in The Globe and Mail newspaper, celebrating his 91st birthday. He extolled his nation’s love of independence and said Trump’s remarks amounted to “totally unacceptable insults and unprecedented threats” to Canadian sovereignty.

“To Donald Trump, from one old guy to another, give your head a shake!” Chrétien said. “What could make you think that Canadians would ever give up the best country in the world — and make no mistake that is what we are — to join the United States?

“If you think that threatening and insulting us is going to win us over, you really don’t know a thing about us,” Chrétien wrote in the article. “We may look
easy-going, mild-mannered. But make no mistake, we have spine and toughness.”

Trump, who has long complained about Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S., had earlier told reporters the border was an “artificially drawn line.”
Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada, which sends 75% of all goods and services exports south of the border.

The US imports approximately 60% of its crude oil from Canada, which is also the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.