Could Donald Trump be a boon for Canadian patriotism?

In January 2017, Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned immigration to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries. Amid the turmoil that ensued, Justin Trudeau posted a message to Twitter.

"To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith," he wrote. "Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada."

Trudeau's tweet was considered relatively provocative at the time. And later, when asylum seekers began arriving at Roxham Road in larger numbers, the conventional wisdom became that the prime minister's message was a gaffe. He had either invited the influx of people or the challenge of dealing with that wave of newcomers had shown his tweet to be simplistic virtue-signalling.

But haggling over the tactical value of the message risks missing the basic principle that was being conveyed: Canada does not discriminate against those attempting to immigrate to this country on the basis of religion. 

The return of Donald Trump — and his jokes, if that's what they are, about the 51st state — will likely provide new opportunities for Canada to decide how much and how loudly it wants to differentiate itself from its neighbour. In the process, could Trump also end up recharging Canadian patriotism or nationalism?

Trudeau was predictably asked about Trump's 51st state comments during his two recent interviews with American media outlets. Unsurprisingly, Trudeau deemed the idea a non-starter.

"Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian," he told CNN. "One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, 'well, we're not American.' There's such a depth of pride that that's not really an issue."

It would arguably be a problem if not being American was the entire basis for Canada's self image. But it's not a terrible place to start — and has been, to some extent or another, for as long as Canada has existed. And it might be particularly useful now.

As much as Canadians might understand that they live in a distinct and sovereign country, it's worth highlighting some of the differences. 

Consider, for instance, Canadians' views of the recent U.S. presidential election. Support for Trump in Canada has increased over the last four years, but Environics found last fall that 60 per cent of Canadians still supported Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, compared to 21 per cent for Trump. (If Canada was a state it would be the safest Democratic state by a wide margin, surpassing Vermont, which Harris won by 32 points.)

Two years ago, Environics also asked Canadians and Americans about a number of social and political questions to compare responses. Those surveys found some notable differences.

Seventy-seven per cent of Canadians strongly or somewhat agreed the government should act to reduce the income disparity between the rich and poor, compared to 58 per cent of Americans. Eighty-two per cent of Canadians strongly or somewhat agreed that every woman who wants an abortion should be able to have one, compared to 62 per cent of Americans. Sixty-one per cent of Canadians agreed it should be illegal for civilians to own handguns — just 29 per cent of Americans agreed.

Whatever Trump's fondness for annexation memes, a vanishingly small number of Canadians are interested in joining the United States. In 2022, Environics found that 83 per cent of Canadians strongly disagreed with the idea and another seven per cent somewhat disagreed. A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute, conducted earlier this month, similarly found that just 10 per cent of Canadians supported the idea.

That's perhaps unsurprising if you consider some of Environics's other findings. Eighty-three per cent of Canadians had a favourable opinion of the United States in 1983, but that had fallen to 47 per cent by 2024. And as Andrew Parkin of Environics wrote this week, when Canadians were asked in 2021 to compare the two countries, large majorities of Canadians thought their country did better when it came to health care, quality of life, education, social security, government, individual rights and both racial and gender equality. (The U.S. won when it came to productivity and technology.)