The idea of future US President Donald Trump to annex Canada is a great opportunity to form a real union between neighboring countries, said Canadian investor and reality TV star Kevin O’Leary.
He highlighted that many Canadians would support closer ties with their southern neighbor.
Trump recently sparked outrage in Ottawa when he stated that Canada would benefit from becoming the “51st state” of the US.
On Friday, O’Leary told Fox Business: “Canadians have been talking about it over the holidays – the last two days – and they want to hear more.”
Close ties between the two North American countries would have their advantages, even if “there are obviously a lot of problems” he added. According to O’Leary, the Canadian public wants to “understand what the proposal is really about”.
“Think of the power to connect the two economies, eliminate the border between Canada and the United States, and redirect all those resources to the northern borders where China and Russia are knocking on the door” he argued, elaborating further:
“So, secure the northern territories, create a common currency, adjust taxes in all directions, trade in both ways, create a new passport, almost like the EU’s – I like this idea, and at least half of the Canadians are interested in it.
You don’t have to sell the country, you don’t even have to merge the two, but you can form a union.”
He added that the liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “extremely unpopular” in his country and will likely lose power in the coming months.
Trump campaigned on the promise to protect US trade interests and threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian goods. The idea of making Canada a US state likely stems from a conversation between Trump and Trudeau at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was present at the meeting, told reporters that the two politicians had joked, and Trump’s comment about the 51st state was “not a serious comment” at all.