That is the message the Canadian government has sent with its plans to rely on U.S. law enforcement officials to conduct law enforcement operations in Canada, starting in 2012.

Embattled U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, announced the plan on September 14, 2011.

Given the population disparity of nine times the number of Americans to Canadians, it’s pretty evident which country will be more reliant on the others’ law enforcement in this interoperability scheme.

This isn’t the case of co-operating to defend against a common existential threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles, as is the case with NORAD; It is a fundamental responsibility of every sovereign country to defend its own borders.

Despite the spin of it being necessary to have such a collaborative approach, as Holder describes, the reality is that the governments of both countries are telling their citizens that they aren’t capable of defending their borders.

As a Canadian myself, I ask the question of other Canadians: do you accept the notion that we are incapable of defending our own borders? If we’re incapable of defending our own borders, then what other fundamental responsibilities of our government are we incapable of fulfilling?

And to my American neighbours and friends, I ask: are you also incapable of defending your own borders?

For more on the Canadian and American governments’ lack of confidence in their own citizens’ abilities, see my article North American Unionization: U.S. and Canadian law enforcement interoperability.