Trump's Canada

Trump's Canada-bashing echoed by supporters at Dallas convention

DALLAS — Thousands of U.S. President Donald Trump's most ardent followers gathered in Dallas for "Trump-a-palooza" this week — and many parroted the president's constant bashing of Canada.

Lona Heins from Tennessee said Canada was "communist" and no longer shared the same values as the United States.

"It's contentious. I think Canada is socialist. It's much, much more socialist," she said. "I'm not even going to say that word anymore. It's communist. We share different values now."

Like many Trump supporters at the unusual two-day Republican midterm convention, Heins spoke highly of Canadians and said she knows many people north of the border.

Heins, 58, said she was raised in South Dakota with family in North Dakota and Canadians were like family.

"What I see in Canada is not the Canada I remember growing up," she said.

She said her change in opinion didn't come from bilateral trade tensions, which she wants to see resolved. She said she needed more information before speaking about the trade dispute.

"I wish that there was a way for them to fix it but I stand with my president," she said. "I'm here for Donald J. Trump. It makes me sad but I hope there's a way they can come to an agreement."

Trump on Tuesday escalated the trade war with Canada, signing executive orders to ban a range of Canadian exports and shuffle tariffs on others. Most imports of Canadian liquor, motorcycles, and a handful of dairy products are to be banned from the United States by the end of September.

Tensions between the countries grew after trade talks broke down in August. In response, Trump slapped an array of Canadian goods with 50 per cent duties. Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs earlier this week.

While headlining the midterm convention, Trump talked Wednesday about his move to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America" and said Canada "very much" wanted a trade deal.

The president was more subdued in his comments about the United States' northern neighbour, which he's threatened to annex for nearly two years. He didn't mention the country during his Thursday address.

Canada stayed off the list of issues most of Thursday, even when Republican Mike Rogers, who is in a must-watch Senate race for a Michigan seat against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, took the stage.

Rogers' speech didn't mention Canada, despite the impact of the trade war on deeply integrated industries in his state, particularly autos.

El-Sayed, meanwhile, has made Canada a ballot-box issue. Last week, he said, "this vanity war is not a war with Canada."