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Pretty provocative headline.
The Economist writers do this now and again: I remember a few years ago when they proposed moving the British capital to Manchester. It would make the political leadership less London-centric and free up tons of housing/public offices in property sparse downtown London.
Even selling the palace of Westminster.
Anyway, this one isn't that bad either: as the subhead reads: "Europe needs space and resources, Canada needs people. Let’s deal"
  • Canadians are mostly, ideologically and ethnically, European.
  • They worry about their southern neighbour
  • they have plenty of natural resources but not enough people
  • ...and the immigrants who've moved there recently aren't precisely European, so if you for some reason want to maintain population shares/ethnicities etc, you could more easily achieve it inside the EU.
Like Europeans, Canadians believe that markets work but must be tempered by welfare states. Their governments offer similar deals to citizens: high taxes, messy parliamentary politics (Canada may soon have a new “governor”, given Mr Trudeau’s unpopularity) and good living standards for nearly all. Both trade openly, fret about global warming and dislike guns, the death penalty and Russian aggression.
And:
Europeans could learn from Canada how to allow immigration in a fashion that the population embraces rather than tolerates, though a housing crunch has frayed that consensus of late.
Where Charlemagne goes wrong—besides empire building or supporting the declining EU museum in any way—is his own observation that...
Canada’s gas cannot reach EU shores because of a lack of LNG shipping infrastructure
It's not for lack of political union or tariff rules that Europe can't get their hands on more Canadian gas.
...and for us money nerds:
The euro would look far more global if it were accepted in Vancouver
Nah. I'm with Trump on this one. It'd be better if Canada's provinces joined the more obvious union—the United States of America!

non-paywalled here: https://archive.md/7ZsY3
Even Canadians aren't dumb enough to go for this and we voted for Trudeau 3 times. Albeit the last time was in a minority government but talk about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different results.
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How are Canadians taking Trump's "51st state" talk?
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Some of us think it is hilarious and others think it is an abomination, an affront to human decency and a joke gone too far.
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I'm impressed with the self-serious Canadians for at least understanding that it was a joke.
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it was a joke
It's very serious.
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In that scenario Canada would have as many seats as California and probably vote even bluer than California. Dems would love that.
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Zoom out and remember that Trump isn't talking whimsically, he's got military strategists and think-tanks laying out classified O-Plans that have been written over decades with unlimited intelligence apparatus resources. He's just the pitch man for the apparatus.
Incorporation of Canada (and the other FVEY Countries for that matter) would involve a constitutional convention #817847. How the seats shake out after that, if the electoral college even remains in a familiar form, is anybody's guess.
Also remember that California is a red state
There are no blue states, only densely populated cities where fraudulent ballots can more easily dilute the rest of the state.
The globalist panic over a constitutional convention is playing out already:
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That's why you allow the Canadians in as provinces, so that we get more decentralization
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I don't know if Texans could handle being the third largest state by both area and population.
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Texas would probably be the driving force, all those distressed assets in Alberta are ripe for the Texas petro-oligarchy
I'm only half-joking, it's not a simple addition... the US becomes a new country: #835195
🤣
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DEAL 🤠 Welcome Canada!
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The EU must end, it's pure communism!
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Not pure, but ok -- take your point
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The EU is total centralization of power, and in practice very totalitarian is the soviets censoring a lot and always wanting more power and control, I can't believe you people here don't see it.
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On what planet is that a good idea? Unless you're the EU I mean, in which case, it's a great idea.
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This is madness by economist. If Canada has to join hands over currency, it would do it so with their nearest and only neighbour.
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50 sats \ 1 reply \ @nichro 4 Jan
Will the Canadian political and media class lose their shit as hard about this one than the Trump comment?
I mean they are both questioning Canada's independence and sovereignty in a way.
The only difference is one was a joke by literallyhitler, the other was.... ahhh of course: an article by our beloved journalist class in a reputable mainstream paper in good esteem with the intelligentsia.
I retract my question. Carry on.
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Love it
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Here is the compromise: the French part of Canada goes to the EU, and the English part goes to the US. Deal? :-)
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Definitely like that version
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50 sats \ 1 reply \ @Shugard 3 Jan
Sure, they are trying hard to make the case for Georgia to join the EU, why not Canda as well? Maybe throw Burkina Faso into the mix?
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Would be extremely good for Burkina Faso
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Lol plot twist Canada becomes part of the US and trump proposes a swap deal to give Canada to the EU in exchange for Greenland
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Quality content
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this would only lead to more centralization, to a single big gov. guys... think...
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Europeans are already allowed to move to Canada, I think, so this is a pretty raw deal for Canada.
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That's what I was thinking too.. Europeans aren't, largely, moving to Canada even though it's pretty easy. So good luck with that immigration bit eh?
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There are good and obvious reasons why no one wants to live in Canada.
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Such as...?
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Cold, dark, snowy, remote, high taxes, plus there's a superior country less than 100 miles south from where pretty much every Canadian lives.
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Cold Dark Snowy Remote
Ok, ok—no need to oversell it, I love it already!
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It used to appeal to me as well, but you left off the last item on my list.
I should also have included that most of Canada is flat as hell.
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Yeah, those are the considerations. Troubles me often, and it's really not obvious to me
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True statement
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @xz 3 Jan
Desperation as the EU fractures?
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F#ck no, the EU is a parasite monster 👹 that can only make you poorer. Canada doesn't need to be poorer
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @2112 3 Jan
I think Europe and Canada need to reevaluate the last decade and decisions made before trying to ‘get engaged’. Know thyself first and both seem lost right mow.
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Another provocation:
"Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st state," Trump posted on his Truth Social network. "They would save a lot on taxes and military protection. I think it's a great idea. State 51!!!", he added.
How about considering BRICS 😂
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canada is an excellent country with a variety of life projects, and from the labor point of view, excellent proposals for all profiles, from trades to companies, join the EU currencies and the dollar, obviously if Canada as British headquarters in the West would do some kind of transaction would do it with its northern neighbor by logic, since certainly USA needs much of the experience of Canada, I consider it is the best in terms of quality of life. thanks for sharing. sats for all.
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That's profound, sir.
Totally agree
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🤣😂😆
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When you don't have words but want to mark your presence. 😜
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