«Hey, USA!"

"The more closely I look at the forces behind your path — and at what's playing out right in the open — the more it turns my stomach. And the bewilderment just keeps taking centre stage.

You've given up so much over these past few years. 
Achievements that once carried the label 'Made in America' — freedom of speech and press, greater justice for women, less racism, better wages for working people. 

How did you manage to let over a thousand billionaires bury their fingers so deep into your politics?

And whatever happened to your friends? 
And what about us — your neighbour, Canada? 

Yes, we're still here, geographically speaking. 
Still autonomous and free. 
But our friendship has cooled considerably. 
Then again, we know a thing or two about cold up here in the north.

Hey, America. 
It hurts deeply to watch you and your people suffer. 
It doesn't sit well with me when we actively and passionately boycott your products. 
There's no joy in turning away from the land of unlimited possibilities. 
It does feel good, though, to travel our own country instead.

And it genuinely ticks us off when our sovereignty gets called into question.

Yes, we like you — the people in and from the United States of America.
No, we do not like your current government.

Your man at the top will no longer be living rent-free in my head. 
He's been doing that far too long already.

Hey, USA — how do you see your future? 
How rosy, or how rusty, will it be? 

Yesterday your President once again gave a deeply unsettling preview of what that near future might look like. 
Fifteen minutes was all I could take.
My conclusion: it doesn't look good, America. Not good at all.

So what's your plan, America? 
Any ideas about how you might reclaim what you once stood for?

Can you picture what a perfectly ordinary day in America would and used to look like?

A day when you're not being controlled by heavily armed, masked figures?

A day that actually tastes like joy?

A day that spreads optimism and a love of life?

A day when your children come home from school alive?

A day when the colour of someone's skin doesn't play a brutal role?

A day when you actually participate in your own political decisions?

Just one day — one day where you say to yourself: 'It's good to live in America.'

That is what I wish for you, America.
Thank you. I’m Christian, your Canadian neighbour."