This is a picture of the Canadian Cemetery at Bény-sur-Mer near Juno Beach on the Normandy Coast. The French keep these cemeteries in beautiful condition, with the graves groomed to the point of being manicured.

They do this because of the gratitude of the French people for the soldiers who gave their lives liberating them. A farmer donated the land for their final resting place. Every man and woman who left Canada and fought in Europe was a volunteer who crossed the Atlantic to fight Nazis. The graves include two riflemen with my family name.

Although I live in New England, my whole family comes from French-Canadian ancestors, and we go all the way back on both sides. One cousin traced our ancestry to at least one of the Daughters of the King: Marie Guillaume, who came to Quebec from Paris and was married in 1689. Some of my grandparents were born  in Canada.

Canada: The Old Country

When we were kids, our parents often took us to Canada on vacation and we covered its roads and countryside from Ontario to Nova Scotia. My parents spoke fluent Canadian French although we kids, alas, do not. As an adult, I have visited Toronto, Alberta, and British Columbia.

So, Canada is more than just a big place on the map to me.  As an American, I want to root for my country, but I also want to support my Canadian heritage. As a rational human being and a good person, I resent the administration’s whole attitude toward Canada and its declared intent to take over a sovereign nation.

What to do?

Canadian Resistance

I admit it; I have chosen to root for Canada and for a very simple reason. Canadians have more power to oppose the current Republican regime than I do.

• Every time I see shelves that have been emptied of American wines and whiskies, I smile. Kentucky voters make Kentucky whiskies and they voted 64.5% for Donald Trump Well, they’re getting what they voted for as pallets get shipped back, barrels sit in warehouses and distillery jobs go down the drain.
• Every time I hear about Canadians canceling their American vacations I cheer. Canadians don’t have to come here. They don’t have to spend their money in America. Staying home or going elsewhere has an impact because it makes a statement to all the hotels, B&Bs, online vacation rentals, restaurants, and tee-shirt shops that will lose money this year.

I call this tough love. Elections have consequences and this is the only way people who voted for tariffs will learn.

Two Democracies Joined at the Border

I’m not the only one who is determined to show that not all Americans are rude, crude, and offensive. That some of us understand how Canadians have a better government than we do right now. That we respect your sovereignty. We’re demonstrating that at sports venues and with signs, among other things.

Canadians Play Hockey at Boston’s TD Garden

I hope that our Canadian friends and relatives understand that we are not all ignorant boors with no sense of history. That some of us think our only hostility should be on the ice. Thirteen states share a border with Canada. That’s too much proximity for hostility.

America and Canada—two democracies joined at the world’s longest undefended border—used to be friends and will someday again. In the meantime, Canada has a right to protest the American government’s insults and incursions.

I hope they hang in there with those Americans who support their country during what is a dark time in ours.