Letter: 51st State, or exploited territory?

By Letter to the Editor on March 20, 2025.

Dear editor,

Canadians have clearly rejected joining the United States, recognizing that capitulation to a bully will only escalate further unreasonable demands.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump’s predation will not be satiated until we either join them, or domestic pressures alters his obsession. MAGA Republicans must question the long-term political consequences of making Canada a state.

MAGA Republicans view Canadians as socialists, progressives and liberal – adding 41 million people to the U.S. who believe in a kinder gentler society with state-run healthcare and a social safety net, would be abhorrent to them.

Annexing Canada would also favour democrats in the Electoral College Vote (ECV) used to select U.S. presidents. Since Canada and California have similar size populations the ECV or Canada would theoretically be 54, and 52 Congressional Representatives and two senators.

MAGA Republicans also understand that Canada’s voting pattern would likely emulate California. The last time Californians voted for a Republican president was for a Californian named Ronald Reagan in 1988. MAGA and traditional Republicans would loath giving the Democrats this potential new influence over the presidency and Congress.

To overhaul the ECV requires a constitutional amendment necessitating two thirds of both houses of congress and ratification by three quarters of the states.

The Republican party dominates smaller states which have served them well, especially in two elections, 2000 and 2016, when George W. Bush and Trump, respectively, became president by winning the ECV, while losing the popular vote.

The ECV disproportionately advantages states with smaller populations. As an example, the state of Wyoming, with fewer than one million people, has three ECVs. The population per ECV quotient is 1 ECV to 195,000, while California’s ECV quotient is 1 to 700,000.

Attaining three quarters of the states to agree to a constitutional change is highly unlikely.

The pathway to statehood does not require a constitutional amendment, only congressional approval. Prior to becoming a state, a territory must be established and recognized by Congress.

Puerto Rico became a territory in 1898, following the Spanish American war, however it has never been approved for statehood. U.S. territories, like Puerto Rico and others, are not granted any ECVs (except the District of Columbia’s three), disenfranchising four million U.S. citizens from voting for a president.

Trump may pursue his economic war on Canada, however even MAGA Republicans recognize the inherent political ramifications that would accompany Canadian statehood.

Trump is well known for the “bait and switch” approach, and the more palatable tactic for MAGA Republicans would envision Canada as a powerless territory, which would allow unfettered access to our natural resources and the north, while preventing us from voting for a president or Congressional representatives.

Despite Trump’s 25% tariffs, there is a business opportunity for the makers of the anti Trudeau flags and stickers to make a small adjustment, from Trudeau to Trump.

Jim Groom

Medicine Hat

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