Wed Feb 26 10:30:29 UTC 2025: ## Canada’s Hockey Win Masks Deeper Concerns About US Dominance
**OTTAWA** – Canada’s overtime victory against the US in a recent ice hockey game provided a much-needed morale boost for a nation grappling with growing concerns about its economic and political dependence on its powerful southern neighbor. While the win sparked national celebrations, the underlying anxieties about the increasingly assertive stance of US President Donald Trump remain.
Trump’s repeated taunts, referring to Canada as a potential 51st state and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as its “governor,” have ignited a surge of Canadian nationalism. This newfound assertiveness, however, is viewed by some as a belated reaction to decades of policy decisions that have fostered deep economic integration with the US.
Critics argue that a succession of Canadian governments, driven by a free-trade ideology, have ignored warnings about the risks of excessive economic entanglement with the US. The late political economist Stephen Clarkson, in his 1982 book “Canada and the Reagan Challenge,” presciently warned about the dangers of this path, predictions that have now come to fruition under Trump’s presidency.
Clarkson’s concerns, dismissed at the time as outdated and anti-American, are now echoed by commentators and politicians scrambling to find ways to curb Canada’s dependence on the US. Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s admission that he preferred a Trump return to the White House exemplifies the perceived lack of foresight among some Canadian leaders.
The current situation highlights a stark reality: Canada’s economic and political ties to the US are so deeply intertwined that Trump’s threats are not mere rhetoric. While the hockey win offered a temporary reprieve, the underlying issue of Canada’s sovereignty and its relationship with the US remains a pressing concern for the nation. Many now believe that the current measures being adopted to mitigate the situation are far too little, far too late.
First Piper 