Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada has responded to its changing relationship with the U.S. by focusing on nation-building.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Over lunch the other day, the talk was about how 2025 had triggered a surge of patriotism in this country on account of the back-of-the-hand treatment from the United States.

“It’s extraordinary,” said Duncan Ault, a lawyer friend. “As a Canadian I feel a foot taller.”

For much of our history we’ve been in the thrall of the U.S., so strongly tethered. This was the year of the big break-up – the separation, a parting of the ways unlike any other in the post-Confederation period.

As a result of the Trump administration trying to make Canadians more dependent, Canadians became more independent. They became less shackled, freer to shape their own destiny, more intent on doing so.

Twenty-nine ways Trump has changed Canada

The break-up with the U.S. came in many forms. The separation was physical. In great numbers, Canadians stopped going there. This had never happened before. We didn’t want to be in their midst.

The divide was economic. Our celebrities took to the airwaves telling us to stay in Canada, spend in Canada,........

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