Dear editor:

What if Donald Trump were to try to implement his big aim, to annex Canada? Suppose, frustrated when he found that his trade embargoes had failed, that he now felt that Canada was weak and could be simply taken over.

He might think it would only take a few troops to march on Toronto, just as U.S. president James Madison thought in 1812. If he occupied Toronto, he would be holding a strong card with which to negotiate a deal.

As it turned out, we taught Madison a decisive lesson at the Battle of Queenston Heights. The militias whom Madison had recruited had not signed on for a fight. They had been told it would just be a simple matter of marching, but with the help of the British Army, who turned up just in time, few of the Americans even reached further than the steep sides of the Niagara gorge.

The Spanish philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Unfortunately, it is more than probable that the current president of the United States never learned his history, and if he had been taught about 1812, the story would have been skewed to show that the American side won.

Furthermore, on more than one occasion, Mr. Trump has stated his view that a large percentage of Canadians want their country to be part of the United States.

If he were to act on his delusion, and considering that Trump is very close to being a full-fledged dictator, this could become very dangerous.

So then, what if he were to summon the National Guard, or a U.S. Army regiment, pick a thinly occupied area along the border and see how it went?

Or perhaps choose a flash occupancy of a Canadian town or city at the border, like Emerson or Lethbridge? That would give him hostages to play with.

Or Windsor? His excuse there could be that it was an emergency and he was protecting the automobile industry.

Would we try to hold them back at the border? Are we ready for that now? Would we be prepared to fight? Are we ready to shoot Americans? Would we aim for their legs, to send the message that we really didn’t want to kill them?

Do you think I am dreaming here, or telling some elaborate joke? I’m not. I’m deadly serious. Think about it.

Andrew Henwood
Old Town