Suppose it did happen. Peacefully or through force, by vote or by violence.聽
What would the aftermath look like?
Welcome to B次元官网网址, USA.
We鈥檇 have more guns and more murders, but by some measurements we鈥檇 be richer. We鈥檇 be a younger city, but with a lot more homeless people. We鈥檇 be a more colourful city, with 10 per cent fewer white people.聽
And we鈥檇 probably vote for Trump.聽
Okay, okay, letB次元官网网址 not get ahead of ourselves.聽
Every day, U.S. President Donald TrumpB次元官网网址 coveting of Canada as AmericaB次元官网网址 51st state seems less like a joke and more like something heB次元官网网址 serious about.聽
Forget both the seeming absurdity of the notion and our overwhelming determination to remain our own country. Discount, if you can, whatever horrible consequences might immediately follow any hostile takeover.
If a union achieved through 鈥渆conomic force鈥 is possible, as Trump muses, so too is an after-the-fact landscape of civil strife, insurrection, and guerrilla war. Oh, Canada, indeed.聽
But strictly as a mind game, letB次元官网网址 imagine what B次元官网网址 might be like if the 49th parallel was even more imaginary than it is today, and was of zero political importance. ItB次元官网网址 at least conceivable we might resemble Spokane, Wash., a city thatB次元官网网址 a five hour drive away.
The City of Spokane has a population of about 250,000, comparable to the greater B次元官网网址 area, though its metro population, called Spokane County, is around 600,000.聽
If B次元官网网址 was just like the City of Spokane, here are 10 ways we鈥檇 be different:聽
- We would have had almost 100 shootings last year, with 45 people sustaining some kind of gunshot injury. Nineteen of us would have been murdered, 10 dying by gunfire. (In B次元官网网址, there were actually 21 murders from January 2019 through December 2023)
- Our median single-family home price would be $425,000 U.S. instead of just under $1 million Can
- B次元官网网址 2,000 of us would be homeless. The BC governmentB次元官网网址 most recent estimate for the number of homeless in B次元官网网址 is 999.聽
- Eighty-one per cent of us would be white. In our B次元官网网址, just over 90 per cent of us are white聽
- Our median household income would be $65,745 US, instead of $85,000 Cdn (The average annual household income, a different measure, in Spokane is $84,416, while the comparable figure for B次元官网网址 is $106,000 Cdn)
- We鈥檇 be a younger city, with 16.4 per cent of us over age 65, compared to about 22.6 per cent
- There鈥檇 be fewer of us in each household, 2.3 people, compared to 2.7聽
-Six per cent of those of us under age 65 would not have health insurance. Every Kelownian, and every Canadian, of course, gets necessary medical treatment without paying a fee at the hospital or doctorB次元官网网址 office聽
- about the same number of us would be without work, as the current unemployment rate is 4.8 per cent in Spokane and 5.3 per cent in B次元官网网址
- We might be a smarter city, with 32.6 per cent of us aged 25 or older having a Bachelor degree or higher credential. In real-life B次元官网网址, the comparable figure is about 25 per cent聽
Some of these comparisons suggest life wouldn鈥檛 be so different under the Stars and Stripes. But thereB次元官网网址 one huge difference.
Last November, 51 per cent of voters in Spokane County cast their presidential ballot for Trump. Right now, 74 per cent of Canadians say they have an unfavourable view of Trump, while 27 per cent of Canadians say they even view the U.S. as an 鈥渆nemy鈥.聽
B次元官网网址 USA? No way.聽
- Ron Seymour is a B次元官网网址 Courier reporter
