Steve Forbes explains why it's very much not in the U.S.'s best interests to annex Canada.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Warning! Canada could take over the U.S.
00:09Hello, I'm Steve Forbes and this is What's Ahead,
00:11where you get the insights you need to better navigate these turbulent times.
00:16President Trump repeatedly calls for having Canada become part of the U.S.
00:21Here's why he and other annex-minded advocates should reconsider.
00:26There might be serious and highly unpleasant consequences.
00:30Start with the fact that our northern neighbor has ten provinces and three official territories,
00:36including the legendary Yukon.
00:39Canadians may be quiet types, but that hardly means they'll be patsies at the bargaining table.
00:45They won't countenance becoming a single state.
00:49They'll condition any takeover on making each of its provinces and territories a separate state.
00:55Under our Constitution, each state has two senators.
00:59That means Canada would come in with 26 senators,
01:03enough to be the swing bloc in controlling this chamber.
01:06That's frightening enough, but it gets worse.
01:09Canada is a very big place geographically.
01:12Being shrewd, its negotiators would use American precedent
01:16and geographically divide each of their political entities into two parts,
01:21you know, North Saskatchewan, South Saskatchewan, etc.
01:25After all, in 1889, when our Dakota Territory applied for statehood,
01:30it was divided in half, North Dakota and South Dakota.
01:34The state of Maine was carved out of Massachusetts in 1820
01:38and West Virginia out of Virginia in 1863.
01:42That means 26 new states from Canada and 52 U.S. senators.
01:48Canada would also have a powerful bloc in our House of Representatives.
01:52In other words, what would take place would be the political version of a reverse takeover in business,
01:58which would be scandalous.
02:00Remember, Canadians sided with Britain during our War for Independence.
02:04While our patriots were shedding blood on the battlefield,
02:08Canadians were canoodling with King George III.
02:11The proof of their perfidy remains to this day.
02:14Canada has a province called British Columbia.
02:17Not to mention another one named Prince Edward Island.
02:21After we won our independence,
02:23many Americans who sided with the tyrannical monarch fled to Canada.
02:27It would desecrate the memory of our patriot martyrs
02:30to have the descendants of these traitors end up controlling our country.
02:34There are other negative factors.
02:36Take Quebec, which is French-speaking.
02:38Canada is officially bilingual.
02:41You can bet Canadian bargainers would insist that this apply to the U.S.
02:46if they were to join us.
02:48That alone could be a deal-breaker.
02:50Given everything else that's going on,
02:52it's hard to imagine President Trump taking the time to master French.
02:56Our northern neighbors are different from us culturally.
03:00They're not big noisemakers.
03:02Just recall those pro-British Americans who decamped to Canada
03:06after we won our independence.
03:08Canada was given its independence.
03:10We had to fight long and hard to get ours.
03:13The American West is symbolized by the cowboy.
03:16The Canadian West, the Mountie.
03:19Clearly, taking Canada would have serious drawbacks.
03:23Instead of gazing at Canada,
03:25the Trump administration must focus hard and fast
03:28on getting a huge tax bill passed immediately.
03:31Not by Memorial Day, but now.
03:34If the GOP doesn't move swiftly,
03:36the economy won't be their friend next year.
03:39I'm Steve Forbes. Thanks for listening.
03:41Do send in your comments and suggestions.
03:43I look forward to being with you soon again.