17 March 2025 - The Arrogant Worms - The Last Saskatchewan Pirate

This has been the toughtest Maple Leaf March so far for me.  

You see, I live in the United States, but I have been a long time fan of Canada.   In 2011, one of my first attempts at blogging, I wrote an article about several of the things I love about Canada.  It really needs an update - I have, for example, had poutine on several occasions and been to many poutineries at this point, and I did spend about 6 months in Calgary more than the States, so I have kind of lived in Canada, too.

But hell, I had pictures of Canadians in my locker at school as a teenager.

OK, Canadian. Singular.

And it was Carling Bassett.  

I was 16.  Don't judge me.

But this month, the United States President, Donald Trump, has escalated a trade and culture war with Canada by

• Imposing significant tarriffs on Canadian goods when there once was none
• Requiring Canadians - including snowbirds who winter in Florida - in the United States to register with the US government
• Continually joking, but not actually joking, about annexing Canada as the 51st state, ignoring the fact that Canada has TEN unique provinces and 3 territories (also unique)
• Blamed Canada for the fentanyl crisis, when in fact, very little fentanyl enters the United States from Canada.

In short, this administration has damaged one of the most enviable partnerships - the one between Canada and the United States - and I hope this isn't irreparable, but it's probably going to be a few years. 

This has made me sad on so many levels. On an economic level, Canada is our biggest trade partner and the United States has now demolished that. On a foreign policy level, Canada has had our back in many conflicts.  On an entertainment level, Toronto has been a stand in for New York City because it WAS cheaper to film there - I doubt that's going to continue. 

On a personal level, I have many excellent friendships with Canadians that have been damaged because my President is being an asshole.  There's no other word for what he's doing.  He's being an unprovoked, egotistical, misguided asshole to Canada. 

So, to my Canadian friends, I don't blame you for keeping your elbows up, and don't for a second believe that the current administation at all reflects the love and respect the American people have for our Canadian neighbors.  

Today's post is one of the last I wrote for this month, because it's been so hard, and because I needed a great song that sounded vaguely Irish and that completely misunderstands the geography of Saskatchewan (the nearest shore to Regina is about 140 km away), and it is a great and funny song. And yeah, because of the current world situation, this song is getting the shaft - I mean, I pretty much guaranteed the thumbnail most people are going to see is going to be Carling Bassett - but listen to it anyway.