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It was Pierre Trudeau who said in 1969 that living next to the United States “is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant.

“No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast… one is affected by every twitch and grunt,” he told the U.S. National Press Club.

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The former prime minister had no idea that the beast would someday roll over on his son.

President Donald Trump’s U.S.A. is no longer friendly or even-tempered. Canada’s economic disaster, if it comes, will be intentional, not just a random sneeze in the night.

The challenge to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet isn’t unprecedented. There have been many trade and diplomatic disputes with the U.S.

The mutual contempt between Pierre Trudeau and President Richard Nixon was legendary. Everyone noted the cold front that divided Stephen Harper and Barack Obama.

But Trump’s bellicosity toward the outside world is unprecedented. In striving to restore America’s greatness, Trump tears down nearly everybody else.