A more patriotic Canada Day in the age of Trump

Montreal Gazette

15 hours ago

By
Cannon blasts rang out across Montreal's Old Port as dozens marked the moment they became Canadian citizens. Among the crowd, Dave and Yvonne Kyba — already Canadian — stood out in matching T-shirts they had printed at a local mall, bearing a message they felt had taken on greater urgency in the past year: 'Canada's Not For Sale.'
'We were so fired up after the comments were made initially, yeah, that we went out and got the shirts,' said Dave Kyba, referring to the latest remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump about annexing Canada.
'We should be more positive, which is generally our character,' he added, 'but we just felt impassioned to say something back: no, we're not.'
'We don't want to be the 51st state. Point finale,' said Yvonne Kyba.
This year's Canada Day has played out amid a trade war with the U.S. and a steady stream of jabs from its president. Thousands gathered at the Old Port, some waving maple leaf flags, others decked out in red and white. The Kybas said they came not to become Canadian, but to witness the ceremony and welcome newcomers.
'Trump has awakened everyone,' said Paulina Ambrose, who stood alongside the couple. Ambrose moved to Montreal in 1976 and had come to watch the event, too.
'People were sleeping. Now they're awake,' she said.
Trump's offhand comments about Canada becoming 'the 51st state' have sparked a wide range of reactions, even as analysts continue to debate whether they're strategic or simply performative. Boycotts of Florida vacations and American-made goods have made headlines. At several public events this year, Canadian crowds have even booed the U.S. national anthem.
'There's a real sense of national pride that wasn't there before,' said Chrissy Krahn, also at the ceremony. A former British Columbian who moved to Montreal six years ago, she added: 'Because we're very nice, right? We're Canadians. But this has really awakened a little bit of a beast.'
Amid the rhetoric from Trump, political changes in Ottawa have also followed this year. Though the governing Liberal Party held onto power in the April election, it did so under a new leader — Prime Minister Mark Carney — whose campaign emphasized standing firm in Canada's relationship with the United States.
That stance has already been tested. On his first visit to the White House, Carney stated plainly: some things are 'never for sale.' But just this week, Carney withdrew a proposed digital services tax that would have targeted American tech companies, after Trump called for its removal. The White House described the move as 'caving.'
However, Dave said he's hopeful the relationship can improve.
'There's always optimism that we're going to return to some sense of normalcy at some point,' he said.
Asked why they think Trump keeps returning to the idea of absorbing Canada, Yvonne paused.
'I don't know what's going on between those two ears on his head,' she said.
'Maybe it's historical. I think that desire to overtake Canada has always been there.'
Or perhaps, she said, 'he just doesn't like a more socialist attitude being successful. Our social programs, I think, should be lauded and appreciated — especially our health care.'
Ambrose added: 'I want to ask him this question: why do you want to make Canada the 51st state when Canada is much larger than the whole of the United States?
'It just can't happen.'
Despite the political backdrop, the mood in Montreal was upbeat.
'It's a ceremony we've never really seen before,' said Yvonne. 'And it's kind of like, why not? Let's go see what it's all about and welcome new Canadians with open arms.'
'I think it goes back to that whole idea of a mosaic, rather than the melting pot south of the border,' said Dave. 'Trudeau senior called it more of a tapestry. We're interwoven. We rely on each other. I think we should value that.'