No need to fear ’51st’ state, says local political sociologist

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on January 11, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

As United States president-elect Donald Trump made his desire to annex Canada as the 51 state public earlier this week, many question the probability of it happening and what that could mean for Canadians.
Local retired political sociologist Trevor Harrison weights in and says Canadians don’t have much to worry about as it is something that will simply not happen due to multiple reasons.
“This this is a bargaining position, plus Donald Trump says all kinds of outrageous things all the time,” says Harrison.
But for the sake of argument, Harrison says that in a hypothetical scenario where there is a possibility of Canada becoming the 51 state, it would be very difficult to happen.
“There are just way too many political, legal and constitutional things that have to be done,” says Harrison. “And in fact, not only would Canadians and Canadian institutions not go along with it, there’s a very good chance that it wouldn’t even be accepted in the United States.”
He adds that the vast majority of Canadians don’t want to be part of the United States. And even though there may be some that like the idea of becoming American by letting Canada become the 51 State, constitutionally there are just too many things that would have to change in order to make it actually come about.
“There are a whole series of treaties with Indigenous peoples going back to the 1760s that would be problematic in terms of the United States absorbing Canada,” says Harrison.
He says in addition to that, it would have to pass all the offices in the United States and is a good chance that it won’t get through the Senate or the House of Representatives.
“So, it’s not going to happen, but if it was to happen there would be multiple consequences that would impact the country as a whole,” says Harrison.
He says Canadians should realize that if this was to happen, provinces and territories would loose power in many ways.
“Right now, each province has the power of one tenth of Confederation. Alberta would not have the same power in a United Canada in the United States,” says Harrison. “Canada would also almost immediately loose Medicare and a lot of control over our own waterways.”
When talking about taxes, which seems to be something that influences people’s agreement with the idea, Harrison says we would most likely end up paying higher taxes without any real benefits.
“And the other thing is, most Canadians would find themselves involved in some foreign military expedition because the United States tends to get involved in military exercises everywhere around the world,” says Harrison.
 He explains that at least those within drafting age would probably find themselves serving in the American military fighting someplace.
“But again, it’s not going to happen. But, in the worst-case scenario those would be a few things that would happen if it did,” says Harrison.
In terms of the Canadians that agree with Trump, he says sometimes when there is an economic downturn, a few people, particularly in some of the business community, will think this is a great short-term solution to a bigger problem.
“But at the end of the day, there aren’t that many people. And it’s a bit silly saying just because the Canadian dollar drops in value that today we’ve decided to join the United States,” says Harrison.
He adds that another reason why some agree with Trump, might have to do with the fact that here in Western Canada and especially in Alberta, many disagree with a Liberal government and believe that joining the United States will “fix everything.”
“Well, that’s kind of silly because Justin Trudeau has resigned, and the Liberals probably will get defeated in the next election. Why would you suddenly throw over all of Canada and getting on 200 years of history, all because of one government you didn’t like?” says Harrison.

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