We have reached the stage in the gilt-encrusted reign of Donald Trump where the American president is increasingly compared to King George III, the supposed tyrant and madman whose policies forced the Thirteen Colonies to sever their connection to Britain.  Mr. Trump’s love of ostentatious gold ornamentation and his eagerness to erect monuments to himself, the latest being a triumphal arch on steroids, certainly chime with tasteless royal excess. His verbal incontinence and frequently bizarre declarations raise questions about his sanity.

His decision to rule by executive order, favouring his cronies, punishing his enemies, and ignoring an elected Congress, looks enough like the actions of a tyrant to have provoked the huge “No Kings” protests in March. The slogan rejects what many see as a drift toward one-man rule, as millions marched in cities across the United States. This was universally felt; there were sizeable protests in Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal. In Canada, a few hundred turned out in Toronto, its largest city, a whimper of a protest given what is at stake.

A Relationship Under Strain

 If Trump is King George reincarnated, Canadians best fit the role of the restive and oppressed American colonists. Canada is not officially an American colony. But for much of the last century, it has been content to act like one, becoming increasingly dependent on the United States for its economic and military security, happily shipping raw materials to the metropole for manufacturing, and staking its survival on a rules-based order largely created and led by the Americans. Trump’s jibe that “Canada lives because of the United States,” came uncomfortably close to the truth.

Canadians are now where the colonists were before the violence at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, a moment when political tensions abruptly gave way to armed confrontation between British forces and colonial militias, marking the start of the American Revolution. There is grudging acceptance that the asymmetrical relationship has changed, disbelief that appeals to reason have fallen on deaf ears, and anger at the economic pain caused by a series of seemingly whimsical, punitive measures. And just like the colonists prior to the revolution, Canadians are divided about what to do. Some yearn for the old relationship to be restored. Others urge a complete break. A third group, which includes the Liberal government, largely want something in between the two extremes. 

Outright violence is not currently on the table, although military planners at the Department of Defence are reportedly looking at possible responses to an American invasion. The aggression has so far taken the form of tariffs and repeated threats of annexation by President Trump, raising the following question: should Canada rebel, surrender, or do something in between?

How the Imperial System Worked

To answer that question, it is worth looking at what provoked the Thirteen Colonies to revolt 250 years ago. Britain had maintained an arms-length relationship with........

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