Interesting to see the take from some U.S. Senators on the current state of the relationship at the 2025 Halifax International Security Forum (2025-11-22):
The tariffs imposed on Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump have clearly caused economic pain for Canada, but a U.S. senator from Maine says he’s more worried about how Canadians are reacting on a personal level.
“Like any neighbours, there’s always going to be issues back and forth, and we’ve been fighting about softwood lumber for as long as I could remember,” Angus King told an international security conference in Halifax on Saturday.
“But the deeper problem is the cultural break; the idea that Canadians don’t think of Americans as their friends and neighbours, but as adversaries.“
No mention of the 51st state rhetoric.
At this point I’m confident that Canadians don’t see Americans as adversaries, but we are wary of the increasingly aggressive and territorial stance that the United States is taking towards this country. Within the context of the repeated ’51st State’ threats that so alarmed Canadians, this includes but is not limited to their stated intention to shut down the automotive sector in Canada, their aggressive pitch for Canada to buy US made planes, and the presence in Canada of a bullying US Ambassador who finds every opportunity to insult Canadians. I think at this point we are questioning whether the United States values it’s relationship with Canada beyond individual economic transactions where the United States benefits.