Its been all over the news, everyone has heard about it... Trump wants Canada and has even declined to rule out "force" to make it happen. Trump aside what would it look like if it actually happened? Is it even possible?
Really I just want to take an in depth (or more in depth) look at what it would look like for a whole country to join the US.
First issue is admitting a new state. Most recently a state was added in 1959 when Hawaii gained statehood. Basically Congress passed a law that was signed by the president and poof they were a state. BUT they had been a US territory since 1900 so the process or timeline for becoming a state was over 59 years. With Trump being limited to the next four years, that is the longest it could take for formal statehood to actually happen (since it is very unlikely that his predecessor will share this idea). Voters within the state of Hawaii also approved the move to become a state with 93% of voters casting a ballot in favor of statehood. While I am not aware of any laws in Canada that address the possibility of joining the US it is stupid to presume that a popular vote with at minimum a majority of voters agreeing with joining would not be required. And that would only happen after a bill to allow the option of leaving Canada and joining the US was passed. So Canadian Parliament would have to pass a bill to permit provinces to leave and (presumably) join the US then citizens of that province would have to vote and pass another bill asking to leave and join. At the same time US Congress would have to pass a bill to admit the new territory as a state.
Canada would NOT come in as a single state. Assuming the current provinces all vote to join the US (and effectively dissolve Canada as a country) and that they come with the same divisions, that would add 10 new states (and a further 3 territories). Giving them the same representation in the Senate and Congress would mean adding 20 Senators (a very significant number of votes) but the seats in Congress would remain unchanged but with a redistribution of seats. Currently states get one representative for every 770,000 citizens (or thererabouts) but the total number is limited to 435. So that would mean changing that allotment such that each state would get one representative for every 864,000 (or thereabouts) citizens. Basically every state would lose one or two. California for instance would go from 52 to 45 or 46.
From an elections perspective it would be a nightmare and most likely a Provincial Body would appoint their number of representatives for the first term followed by a normal election process for the following term.
Numerous big changes would happen for Canadians, their health care system and taxation methods are big issues off the bat but very notably the currency would be one of the first "Canadian" identifiers that would be elimiated almost overnight. Basically the US Federal Reserve would set a fixed exchange rate and announce the currency as terminated. Production of Canadian notes would cease and banks would be given a reasonable timeline to convert from CAD to USD - again at a fixed rate set by the Federal Reserve.
Trade would open almost immediately as buying and selling into Canadian Provinces would now be the same as trade between US States. Any Customs Duties or Charges would be gone as would any functional checkpoints as the border would no longer represent a location where searches are not Connotationally restricted.
Issues concerning trade and commercial activities with cannabis would be impacted as that is currently banned at the federal level in the US but is legal across Canada. Likely each new state would have to pass and implement their own laws legalizing cannabis.
Canadian equivalents of numerous departments would have to be absorbed into the US Departments. Department of Justice being a big one (I will talk about more in another article) but would also include FDA, FAA, FCC and several other alphabet groups. Just the change from following Canadian standards for medicine and medical devices will create near chaos for a long long time for basically all Canadians.
Canadians would also see big changes in their retirement system and leave benefits with federally defined leave basically disappearing overnight. Maternity leave for example in Canada federally requires job protected leave for up to 18 months and pays a portion of the person's regular pay during a meaningful portion of that leave. In the US, job protected leave is much shorter and no federal benefits are paid while on leave.
So far its all down hill for Canadians that voted to join the United States. Is there even an upside? Maybe - but that's for my next article.
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