canada and the united states are interdependent on each other. it's true that canada relies on america to buy exports, but it's also true that large swaths of the united states rely on canada for the same reason. if canadians eat a lot of american food, american farmers rely on canadian fertilizer, and on the canadian export market.

it is blatantly stupid for either country to deny this interdependence, or act like either country could thrive independently of the other.

but that's just the point. if you drop the stupid nationalist rhetoric and the idiotic competitive machismo, essentially all of the few concrete reasons why canadians may want to remain canadians are strengthened by joining forces with allies in the united states - the healthcare model, the abortion funding, the more selective immigration model, the social assistance payments, etc. we are more likely to maintain, strengthen and expand these concrete benefits of canadian citizenship by building alliances with populous american states on our borders than we are by getting into stupid wars of conquest or competition.

there are more americans that want to be canadian than there are canadians that want to be american and the best and most effective way for us to maintain the concrete differences that define our superior quality of life is by recognizing that fact and working to take advantage of it.