As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters continue to lambast Canada for becoming the 51st federal state, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Canada says he fears Canadians may feel Americans don’t respect them .
David Cohen told CBC The house in 2022 that Canadians felt “betrayed” because “they did not believe that their affection and respect for the United States was reciprocated by the United States.”
In a follow-up interview on Tuesday with The houseCohen was asked if Canadians felt disrespected again as Trump continued to joke about Canada joining the United States
“I think it’s fair to say I’m worried about it,” Cohen told CBC host Catherine Cullen The house, in an interview that will air Saturday.
“A lot of my message to Canadians over the last three years has been that you suffer from an inferiority complex that you don’t deserve.”
Cohen, who will leave his post in Ottawa early next year, also said that for a “healthy relationship” there must be mutual respect between the two countries.
The outgoing ambassador also added: “I don’t know that being a 51st state is a terrible thing.”
Over the past two weeks, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become a U.S. federal state, sometimes citing the trade imbalance between the two countries. He has also repeatedly referred to the prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau.”
Senior Canadian officials — including Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended a dinner in Florida with the president-elect — have done so suggested that Trump was just trolling and does not seriously propose that Canada become an American state.
Cohen pointed out that “Canadians had a pretty good response, which means it might be better for the United States to become Canada’s 11th province…You can have banter and not necessarily have a lack of respect.”
He said the relationship between Canada and the U.S. is “much deeper” than between the president and prime minister and also extends to Congress, the business community and state legislatures.
“And all I hear from all of these sources is continued respect, appreciation and admiration for Canada,” Cohen said.
During a news conference Monday, LeBlanc discussed his dinner with the president-elect in Florida and said he viewed Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st state as a “light joke.”
“He said some of this on social media,” LeBlanc said. “Again, our government’s job is not to respond to everything Trump posts.”
LeBlanc said he will Meeting with Trump’s border czarTom Homan, after Christmas, to discuss Canada’s proposed $1.3 billion plan to secure the Canada-U.S. border.
“I am confident that we will have a cordial, joint discussion with the new Trump administration, but we still have a lot of work to do,” he told Blanc.
