Maritimers unsure if Canada-U.S. relations will ever be restored amid trade war

After threats of annexation and tariffs, can Canada – US relations ever go back to the way they were?

As talks around tariffs and Canada becoming the 51st state continues, some Maritimers wonder if the relationship between the two countries will ever be restored.

“Canadians are royally - to sum it up - pissed at the approach the U.S. has taken to us,” said Osborne Burke of Victoria Co-operative Fisheries Limited, which has long depended on trade with the United States.

Burke said the company still has good relationships with its American customers, as evidenced by a recent trade expo in Boston. However, when it comes to the Trump administration, the broken trade trust will be difficult to get past.

“I don’t think you’ll ever see it going back to the relationship Canada had prior to this with the USA,” Burke said. “I’m hopeful it would.”

“It could blow over, but I think it would be hard to come back from some of the comments like that,” said Sarah Doue, a Sydney resident who grew up in Texas and holds dual citizenship.

Doue said with everything that has happened the past few months, United States President Donald Trump doesn’t have many fans in Canada.

However, she feels for many, the hostility doesn’t carry over to regular American people.

“I don’t hold it against them. It’s their leadership making the comments, not them, right?” Doue said.

Cape Breton University political scientist David Johnson said there is a movement now that Canadians can’t trust America the way they have since the end of the Second World War.

As for what it might take to bring the old relationship back, Johnson says a new administration and time.

“It’s not just Trump that is an issue, it’s what I call ‘MAGA Nation,‘” he said, adding that it might go a bit far to suggest relations between the two countries are damaged for good. “Well, I guess never say never and forever is a long time.”

Burke added, on a personal note, this year will be the last he will vacation in the United States for the foreseeable future.

“Like a lot of Canadians, we’ve decided to pull out of Florida,” Burke said. “We had committed to this year, but we’re not going back.”