It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I’d sworn not to visit the U.S. until President Donald Trump’s threats and tariffs ended. But then I received an invitation to speak in Montpelier, Vermont’s capital, at last week’s big Hands Off rally.

It was part of the huge anti-Trump protests across all 50 states.

Vermont organizers wanted to hear about our country’s response to Trump from a Canadian, and some were longtime readers of this column. So I agreed to drive down.

My big surprise was how many people urged me not to accept.

Numerous friends warned me not to cross the border and sent articles about people recently detained, even chained for days by border officials.

I’ve always wanted to visit Venezuela, but not as a prisoner held in a supermax prison, like many now are.

Fortunately, the border crossing at Rouses Point, N.Y., was routine. The guard just asked what I was planning to do and I said “bike and visit Montpelier friends” — both true.

But the fact so many Canadians are nervous about simply crossing the border is a sign we live in paranoid times, though nowadays paranoia is justified.

I met and overnighted with one of the protest’s main organizers, Miriam Hansen, a charismatic, self-described........

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