Dear editor,

I am terrified of what might happen to Canada, since the U.S. President has declared a trade war against us and has threatened to annex Canada. I became scared when our federal government allowed Trump to dictate our border control protocol.

Donald Trump is the adult equivalent of a school yard bully. When you give your lunch money to a bully, instead of standing up to him, he will keep coming after you for more. Until he ends up stealing your bike, then eventually taking over your house and demanding you pay rent to live there.

Trump demanded that we spend our lunch money -- to the tune of $1.3 billion -- on safeguarding the American side of the border. What does he want next?  Great Britain and the rest of Europe learned too late that appeasing Nazi Germany wasn鈥檛 working. They thought they could avoid war by giving in to Adolf Hitler鈥檚 demands. They signed an agreement allowing him to enlarge his military forces. That didn鈥檛 go well.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler promised to expand Germany鈥檚 borders but the rest of Europe didn鈥檛 take him seriously. Consequently, they missed out on the opportunity to prevent World War II.

While the White House hasn鈥檛 officially declared war on us, the U.S. President has made his intentions quite clear. He has told our Prime Minister repeatedly that he wants to make Canada the 51st state and continually insults him and all other Canadians by calling him 鈥淕overnor鈥� instead of 鈥淧rime Minister鈥�. Last Sunday at the Superbowl, he told the news media that he is serious about his plans to annex Canada.

I don't think it's smart to make agreements with people who don鈥檛 treat us like equals and insult us. It鈥檚 also inadvisable to co-sign documents with someone who has a track record of defaulting on business contracts. So what should a country like Canada do to prevent a leader like Donald Trump from invading?

One of the best ways to deal with a schoolyard bully is to stand up to him and refuse to give ground. Not only would this force Trump to treat Canadians with a little respect, it would give him enough rope to hang himself.

Trump is becoming unpopular. He has made huge election promises he can't keep. The biggest one was to lower grocery prices. He has also done some offensive things that are causing American people all over the USA to hit the streets in protest. He鈥檚 taken away LGBTQ+ rights; dismantled USAID; and pardoned the 1,583 -- or so -- rioters convicted of criminal offences at the violent pro-Trump Jan. 6 Riot. He鈥檚 also demanded the FBI give him the employment records of its agents who worked on obtaining those convictions.

Trump is counting on us to give him our resources so he can keep the rest of his promises - like delivering Canada鈥檚 water to California. If we retaliate, instead of capitulate, this will destabilize the American Economy. This will generate even more dissatisfaction with the Trump regime. I鈥檓 counting on Canadian tariffs to cause the Trump administration to implode. While this would create much hardship for us, the vast majority of Canadians don鈥檛 want to become Americans. This is war, and in wartime sacrifices must be made. Countless Canadians have already made pledges to boycott American products, including me. I鈥檝e lived under the poverty line for most of my life, so I know how to budget and make do with less. I would much rather do that than be invaded by American troops and see our medical system and social safety net gutted; our natural surroundings raped and pillaged; and minority Canadians victimized.

The other effective way to deal with a school yard bully is to ask for help. I鈥檓 sure the Europeans would be willing to help us get through this crisis. I鈥檇 like to see Canada form a Free Trade agreement with the European Economic Union. I鈥檓 also sure, if the American armed forces invaded us, the people in Europe would send us reinforcements.

After World War II broke out, 10 percent of Canadians enlisted to fight the Nazis. Eighty years later, the citizens of Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, and particularly The Netherlands are still extremely grateful that our ancestors helped to liberate their nations.

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. I hope our federal government chooses a different path than the one the Europeans took during the 1930s.

Charlotte Ostrowski

Courtenay