To the editor:
Trump wants to absorb Canada – well most Canadians aren't okay with that.
The thing that worries me is we have become too dependent on the USA for food products.
I doubt if Ontario produces enough food to feed its current population without imports from other countries. Global warming means there are no guarantees about food coming in from other countries. As a province and a country we must be able to feed ourselves. Yes, the exotic makes life interesting – we take bananas as an everyday food but I remember as a child bananas showed up in November for a while and oranges were available as a rare treat at Xmas.
We need to develop trade with other countries. We are too dependent on the USA to be our customer. We sell crude oil to the USA – maybe it's time to ramp that down. By reducing the amount of oil we produce for others we can help combat climate change.
What we need is a complete rethink of what we are doing today with U.S. trade. As Mr. Trump has demonstrated in the past any agreement made with the US isn't worth the paper it's written on. Either we learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it. It's sad that the friendly relationship we once had with our neighbour is ending – but we must face the fact because I think Mr. Trump will be controlling things for more than four years. The democratic republic south of us has been slowly imploding and will continue to do so. We need to strengthen ties with other democracies well maintaining a friendly but cautious relationship with the United States.
Roberta Livingstone
North Bay
