Canada already is America’s 51st state

For many Canadians, a thrilling ice hockey game turned out to be an exhilarating antidote to an unforgiving winter.

More than that – as a subdued Canadian coach Jon Cooper told reporters after Canada’s best hockey players beat America’s best hockey players in overtime last week – the beleaguered country “needed a win”.

Cooper wasn’t asked nor did he elaborate on why Canada had to prevail.

He didn’t have to.

The reasons were plain to the millions of Canadians who leapt, I reckon, with a mixture of joy and relief when the world’s most gifted hockey player, Connor McDavid, potted the goal that sent his team and a grateful nation into a happy frenzy.

For weeks, a blustering US President Donald Trump has taunted Canada and its prime minister. He has referred to a proud people and land as America’s would-be 51st state and Justin Trudeau as its “governor”.

Trump’s antics and threats have triggered a surge of pride among usually reserved Canadians about their beloved home and worry for its uncertain future.

And the trash-talking leader of Canada’s “dearest” and “closest” ally has proven that most politicians and corporate-hugging columnists have the foresight of Mr Magoo.

Like the doddering, shortsighted, cartoon character, a host of free-trade-adoring politicos and polemicists refused to see or heed the warnings sounded in the 20th century about the existential risks of tying Canada more tightly into the dominant US economy in the 21st century.