Birthday Blues

Friday, July 3, 2026 | Newsletter 82

We’re in that odd, festive pause between Canada Day and July 4, summer patios, neighbourly barbecues and fireworks, a time when both countries celebrate themselves and each other. This year the mood feels different. What should be simple goodwill now sits against growing unease about where the United States is headed, and that unease reaches across our border.

From a Canadian vantage point, the changes are not just theatre, they are reshaping institutions, norms and everyday life. Words matter, rhetoric becomes policy. Appointments and decisions that weaken public institutions and privilege private gain have consequences far beyond U.S. voters’ living rooms.

At home in the U.S., the pattern is familiar: a judiciary increasingly seen as political rather than impartial, the rollback of protections for women, minorities and other vulnerable groups, deep cuts to agencies that do the country’s research and public service work, and tax policies that favour the very wealthy. These are not abstract debates. They alter who gets health care, whose rights are protected, and how economic burdens are shared.

June 5, 2025

What many Canadians do not get to vote on are the external effects of these choices. Tariffs, for example, are being used as blunt instruments. They raise costs for consumers, deter investment and break cross-border supply chains that once supported good jobs on both sides. The result is factory closures, job losses and businesses reconsidering where to locate production.

Rhetoric also matters because it changes expectations and behaviour. Jokes about making Canada the 51st state, referring to our leaders as governors, and treating a small fraction of fentanyl trafficking as grounds for emergency measures or trade penalties are not harmless. They create diplomatic friction, feed protectionist instincts and corrode trust. Political intervention that delayed the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, apparently to protect private interests, felt to many Canadians like favouritism over public good.

The flames of Alberta separation have also been fanned by operatives tied to Trump, adding another strain to Canadian politics and regional cohesion.

January 27, 2026

The effect is subtle and cumulative. Canadians are changing habits, diverting travel, buying fewer U.S. cars and even choosing imported fruit over American produce. Small choices add up into a larger signal, Canada is recalibrating its relationship, not out of spite but out of practical self-preservation.

For Canadians like me with kin from the U.S., who love American history, its democratic traditions, its wide cultural landscape and the friendly people who make up the country, this is a sad moment. The U.S. has long been a neighbour and a mirror, a place whose successes and failures matter to us deeply. Watching the erosion of norms and the elevation of personal brand over public service feels like watching a familiar city lose its landmarks.

This is not a call to cut ties. It is a call to pay attention, to protect shared interests and to defend democratic norms that keep institutions accountable, economies stable and citizens free. In the midst of two national days, that is something both countries should celebrate and defend.

The Graeme Gallery offers a weekly review of news through my editorial cartoons, delivered free via email every Saturday. I’ve been the editorial cartoonist at the Hamilton Spectator since 1997, with work also appearing in the Toronto Star. While I remain committed to print, platforms like Substack allow me to share my work online if needed. I invest deeply in these posts, driven by a long-standing passion for current events. Thank you for subscribing, and for your support—please share with others and consider subscribing, in case you haven’t.

© 2026 Graeme MacKay. All rights reserved. Reproduction requires permission. MacKaycartoons.net