(ie, is this really a rupture or just a 4 year blip)
It’s a rupture. The Canada/US relationship has been shaky this entire millennium. Many people here are probably too young to remember, but the US got mad when Canada joined the US in Afghanistan, but refused to join the next adventure in Iraq. They might have heard of Freedom Fries, but forget how the US was encouraging Americans to boycott Canadian goods because “you’re either with us or you’re with the terrists!”
After Bush, Obama made things somewhat normal again, but after Obama, the US elected Trump, then it was Biden, then it was Trump again. If every second president the US elects is going to try to wreck Canada’s economy for not simply falling in line, the relationship is done for. Besides, any deal with the US would now be a suicide pact. The US is intent on destroying itself. You don’t want to tightly integrate your economy to that of a country that is poised to collapse.
It’s a rupture. The Canada/US relationship has been shaky this entire millennium. Many people here are probably too young to remember, but the US got mad when Canada joined the US in Afghanistan, but refused to join the next adventure in Iraq. They might have heard of Freedom Fries, but forget how the US was encouraging Americans to boycott Canadian goods because “you’re either with us or you’re with the terrists!”
After Bush, Obama made things somewhat normal again, but after Obama, the US elected Trump, then it was Biden, then it was Trump again. If every second president the US elects is going to try to wreck Canada’s economy for not simply falling in line, the relationship is done for. Besides, any deal with the US would now be a suicide pact. The US is intent on destroying itself. You don’t want to tightly integrate your economy to that of a country that is poised to collapse.