Avery Suzuki, Montreal, PQ

My name is Avery Suzuki, I am a concerned citizen living and working in Montreal. I wrote on the 3rd of November to my local Member of Parliament, Rachel Bendayan, on this subject but I believe in light of recent events it bears reiterating more broadly to other members and levels of government, as I believe these issues to be non-partisan.

As the world watched with weary eyes yesterday, former President Donald Trump was reelected and will resume office. To state the obvious, this is a man who has undermined the judiciary and legislative branches of the American government, with the clear intention of concentrating and broadening the power of the executive to become a singular authoritarian ruling power.

His administration’s intentions are clear, as outlined in the Project 2025 policy proposals by The Heritage Foundation and by his own statements during his campaign. Trump and his cronies are poised to eradicate all remnants of liberalism in the United States, and create a new political paradigm based on radically anti-social undemocratic disregard for the dignity and autonomy of the state’s citizens. Moreover, malevolent foreign policy will serve to exacerbate violence in the name of American imperialism, appeasing and aligning with despotic dictators who undermine the notion of free society.

All to say, it is clear to all paying attention that the so-called “American Experiment” is over—the death march of the United States is on its final strides, and our neighbours to the south are rapidly headed towards unstable tyrannical rule—potentially a failed state. Thus, I believe the USA’s status as the omnipresent pole of Western civilization is on the verge of collapse, and the world is shifting toward a multipolar social order where American cultural, economic, and military prowess should no longer be the standard-bearer.

Will we stay our current course and follow our addiction to the Western status quo, spiralling toward oblivion? I assert we have it inside of ourselves to resist the iron web that ensnares our national psyche and stake our future to the ideals we like to imagine ourselves embodying.

How can we call a nation that flagrantly disregards the rights of its own citizens our “closest ally”? How can Canadians profess to value liberty, multiculturalism, and integrity, when our “closest ally” seeks to strip away reproductive rights, eliminate protections for queer people, disregard the civil rights of immigrants, and erode all credibility in the democratic process, while imposing imperialistic foreign policy strewn in blood and horror. If a non-Western country were perpetrating such acts, Canada would consider sanctions against them.

Ask any citizen, “What is the Canadian national identity?” The only invariable answer you will receive is “We are not American.” This answer reveals that America represents something antithetical to the values Canadians align themselves with. Yet American hegemony and ideology persists in our borders and strangles every aspect of our national body—conjoining us to a parallel destiny. This is not only a matter of our sovereignty, but of our survival. It dispairs me to see Canadian resources irresponsibly controlled and exploited at obscenely uncompetitive prices by foreign corporate entities with no stake in the environmental or economic well-being of local communities. This is a nefarious form of colonization that Canada seems content to accept, enabling a culture of inferiority and submissiveness toward the larger GDP.

Pragmatically, I petition the Canadian government to do the following: (1) Diplomatically distance ourselves from the USA from this point forward in both rhetoric and policy. (2) Unequivocally denounce any anti-liberal, anti-social, draconian Project 2025 policies implemented by the Trump administration. (3) Offer asylum to vulnerable Americans who face the expectation of violence or oppression under a Trump administration, especially members of the queer community, immigrants, and political dissidents. (4) Stimulate Indigenous-led cultural initiatives and prioritize Indigenous civic autonomy to reflect a decolonized cultural foundation. (5) Stimulate domestic culture and manufacturing through funding and policy to encourage cultural and economic independence. (6) Diversify our international trade interests to be non-reliant on the American unipolar Western economy.

Perhaps it is naive to remain idealistic toward one’s nation. If so, then I am naive—because Canada must take a principled stand for what we profess to believe in, both at home and on the world stage.