THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM

(Trying to talk to Americans)

In the fall of 2019, Elva and I visited six countries that were once part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Kirghizstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. While all six declared their independence after the fall of the USSR in 1991, one cannot compare their systems of government to ours. Simply put, some are more democratic than others, but none as democratic as ours in Canada.

After visiting the first four countries named above, a new guide joined our group before we crossed into Turkmenistan. He explained that our previous guide was not allowed into the country and he outlined in great detail what would happen at the border crossing. Then he said this: “Please don’t ask me too many questions about our country and how it functions. All you need to know is that Turkmenistan is a great country and our President is a great man.”

This is Year 2 for us in Florida since Donald J. Trump began his second term in January of 2025. When we arrived here on February 28, one day after the War in Iran began, gas was $2.90 a gallon. It has gone to as high as $4.30 a gallon since then, an increase of almost 50%.

During our visit in March and April of last year, I made it my mission to understand why a majority of Americans voted for such a major change on November 4, 2024. I watched and listened and was able to put it all together. The best explanation for the change in direction is one I heard from one of the talking heads on a TV newscast: “Too much woke and too many broke!”

We’ve spent time in Ft. Myers most years since 2016 and have learned that four topics of conversation with our American friends are to be suppressed or avoided at all costs: religion, politics, health care and gun control. Since Trump 2.0, the list of too-sensitive-to-talk-about topics has grown to include affordability, tariffs, the Epstein files, the Iran War, Greenland, and Canada as the 51^st state. It doesn’t leave us much to discuss besides bikes, cycling and the weather! The division is so deep that Americans are not even speaking to one another about these things, and the silence is deafening.

We watched Mark Carney’s recent “fireside chat” where he cited the example of Sir Isaac Brock, a hero of the War of 1812-1814, and how he is inspired by the story of how a vastly outnumbered British-Canadian force managed to suppress an American invasion. Canada was part of British North America at the time, many battles were fought on our soil, and our side even set fire to the White House on April 24, 1814. Carney’s historical reference is a thinly veiled metaphor for the tense situation between our two countries and the need for Canada to defend itself from America by, this time, going its own way. I have never heard a Canadian Prime Minister use this type of language before when speaking of America, and it shows just how serious this threat is to our sovereignty and collective well-being.

2026 will be a critical year in Canada-US relations because of the scheduled renewal of the Canada-US-Mexico free trade agreement (CUSMA). President Trump signed the deal with panache five years ago calling it: “The best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA”. He now calls it “irrelevant” and “a bad deal”, saying that “the US doesn’t need it”.

His Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, says that CUSMA is structurally flawed because it does not prioritize US-based production. In recent testimony before a Senate committee, he used aggressive and undiplomatic language, calling Canada “insulting” and “disrespectful”. That alone tells me we’re on the right track. President Trump may have done Canada a favour by inciting us to diversify our trading patterns and to remove barriers to interprovincial trade. The time will come, maybe sooner than Americans think, when they’ll need our natural resources.

Everything this President and the sycophants that surround him do is transactional. Relationships mean nothing to them, only deals. When our Prime Minister spoke in Davos, Switzerland, in January, he described a new world order, one that would require nations like ours, the so-called “middle powers”, to move away from the US and find other dance partners. That is exactly what Carney has done by signing deals with other countries, some of whom are not considered to be our allies. We’re being driven away from our long-time trading partner because of the flawed vision of one man.

I sincerely hope Canadians will continue to support our government’s strategy. I’m prepared to pay whatever it takes to free us from the clutches of our former best friend. I want to see our natural resources move East to West and North, rather than towards a southern neighbour that claims to not need anything we produce. I want us to invest in defense and to take our Arctic sovereignty more seriously. These are things we’ve neglected far too long under previous administrations, particularly that of Justin Trudeau.

I’ve learned more about geopolitics in the past two years than I have through the rest of my life, and I’m grateful for that. I feel sorry for those who choose only to judge, rather than opening their minds to try and understand what’s really going on and why. I’m encouraged by the sense of urgency Trump 2.0 has prompted, particularly in Europe. They’ve moved past being judgmental and have accepted the reality of the new world order. President Alexander Stubb of Finland, a nation of only 5.5 million people, has become Europe’s most articulate spokesperson. I’ve listened to him many times, and he has a lot to teach Canada about how to survive in this new world order.

A majority of Americans voted for change, believing their country was headed down the wrong path, and that everything they’d work so hard for would be lost if they didn’t bring everything into question. Trump has done that and much more, maybe more than his supporters bargained for.

I laugh when I hear experts talk about the President’s supposed cognitive decline. The term is used to describe a gradual loss of one’s mental abilities, including memory, thinking, reasoning, attention, and the ability to learn and make decisions. They point to instances they believe demonstrate that the man is losing his marbles. I don’t buy it for one second. I believe what we’re seeing and experiencing is the real Donald J. Trump, the man he’s always been and the President he’s forever dreamed of being.

Our American friends may find it uncomfortable to talk about the big four – religion, politics, health care, and gun control – but they’d better soon start addressing the other elephants in the room before it’s too late. True democracy requires that we debate difficult issues. The November mid-terms should paint a clearer picture of what will come next. If the current polls are any indication, President Trump’s last two years in office may be a lot less enjoyable than the first two.

Americans believe they live in the greatest country in the world and that western society would not be what it is if not for American political and cultural leadership and guidance. While both may be true, this President has severely damaged relationships that have enabled America to grow and stay strong. And the damage will not easily be undone.

Elva and I have travelled to 102 countries thus far, 104 if you count Palestine and Taiwan. Our next trip in June will be to Greenland. We’re going there to learn about the history of the Greenlandic people, to visit Viking sites, and to experience the Arctic landscape. While we’re in the capital, Nuuk, we’ll make sure to have our picture taken in front of the Canadian consulate. Before I pass from this world, I hope to count Greenland as sovereign country number 103.

We’ll be back in Florida in 2027, as long as our health permits us to, and we’ll cherish time spent with our American friends. We’ve accepted the limits of our relationship with them. We come for the weather and to avoid the worst months of our winters. We’ve met many good people here, just as we have everywhere we’ve travelled in the world. And we won’t allow one man to decide how we spend the good years we have left.