This article was produced by Rosemary Baptista, LJI Reporter. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication. The content is intended to encourage discussion and critical thinking on the topics presented.
In the depths of a national crisis, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s novelty hat, emblazoned with a defiant message—“CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE”—has emerged as an unlikely expression of unity.
Whether Trump makes good on his promise to inflict punishing tariffs on all Canadian goods and services is uncertain, but it has Canadian leaders scrambling to come up with a response to the threat of a trade war. The United States is Canada’s closest ally.
ZOOM Television organized a roundtable debate on January 17, 2025, and invited authors Richard Heath Rohmer, Diane Francis, and Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour—a Canadian-British writer, former politician, newspaper publisher, and financier—not only to discuss tensions between Canada and the United States and their opinions on Trump’s promises to impose tariffs on all Canadian goods and services but also for a hypothetical thought exercise: what it might cost to buy Canada and whether or not Canada would defend itself against an American invasion. Marissa Lennox led the interview.
Among the speakers was Richard Heath Rohmer (born January 24, 1924), a Canadian aviator, lawyer, adviser, author, and historian, born in Hamilton, Ontario. He just turned 101 years old.
On January 14, 2009, The Peterborough Examiner‘s lead editorial described Rohmer as “one of Canada’s most colourful figures of the past half-century.” General Rohmer served as an honorary advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces from 2014 to 2017. He also advised the Minister of Veterans Affairs for the organization and conduct of Canada’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 2014 and the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland in May 2015. He is a veteran of D-Day, the Battle of Normandy, and the Liberation of Holland.
Fifty years ago, Rohmer explored tensions between Canada and the United States in his book Ultimatum 2, published in early 2007. The novel fictionalizes a confrontation between the United States and Russia against Canada over the construction of an international high-level nuclear waste disposal site in Arctic Canada. Could Ultimatum 2 be a prophetic novel, similar to George Orwell’s 1984, which was written in 1948 to warn of what could happen if citizens allowed their governments to hold unchecked power? Orwell’s book presents a dystopian vision of the future, where individual freedoms are suppressed in favor of societal conformity under a totalitarian regime.
Ultimatum 2 is an action-packed, fast-moving saga. The American president, frustrated with the hundreds of millions of dollars given to Russia to clean up high-level nuclear waste, presents an ultimatum: do things my way, or else. The message is delivered in person by the secretary of state during a secret rendezvous in Norway. As totalitarian regimes hold sway and government surveillance, information control, manipulation, censorship, propaganda, and oppression increase, a second ultimatum follows. This time, the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom demand that Canada accept an international nuclear waste disposal site. The Canadian prime minister refuses, stating that Canada will not become a nuclear waste dump. The Americans threaten invasion. The resolution of the crisis in the novel is ingenious.
Similarly, Orwell’s 1984 remains a stark warning about authoritarianism and the dangers of allowing powerful figures to beguile citizens into exchanging their freedoms for security. Orwell’s ultimate message is encapsulated in his quote: “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”
Coincidentally, his warning has become even more relevant in today’s global crisis.
Despite being published over 70 years ago, 1984 continues to resonate because its themes transcend time and remain applicable to various socio-political contexts.
While Orwell’s Animal Farm critiques communism, 1984 critiques authoritarianism. In Animal Farm, the pigs represent the leaders who seized power after the Russian Revolution, ultimately betraying the revolution’s original ideals. The novel’s grand theme highlights how ordinary individuals continue to believe in a revolution that has been utterly corrupted. Orwell reveals how those in power—Napoleon and his fellow pigs—pervert the democratic promise of the revolution.
“Animal Farm is a warning to every reader: beware the utopia; beware the perfect solution and the easy slogan; beware those who claim to know what is best for you; beware bombast and dogma; beware the death of doubt; beware those who do not practice what they preach; beware the chosen; beware the one and only true path.” — George Orwell
What is Aldous Huxley’s message in Brave New World? Huxley warns that advanced technology could take over and that humans could lose their humanity. His novel reminds us not to get caught up in physical pleasures and to follow our own paths, even if that means diverging from the group.
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” — Aldous Huxley
During the ZOOM Television debate, Diane Francis revisited the possibility she explored a decade ago in her provocative book Merger of the Century. At the time, her ideas were dismissed by mainstream media and the central Canadian establishment, known as the Laurentian elite. However, ten years later, her notions are being re-examined. Francis argued that connecting the economic dynamism of the United States with Canada’s vast natural resources is inevitable and proposed a novel form of federal union. But should the United States simply buy Canada? If so, how would we determine Canada’s value? We know how to price oil, gas, wheat, timber, and fish, but what about our most precious resources—our water and our people? Of course, we cannot ignore the emotional and patriotic factors that complicate such discussions.
In the wake of President Trump’s joke, 13% of Canadians already support the idea of joining the United States as its 51st state, with numbers as high as 30% in Alberta, despite no tangible benefits having yet been offered.
These are all thought-provoking discussions regarding Canada’s future. Doug Ford is right: “Canada is not for sale.”
Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien echoed this sentiment:
“Every time that Mr. Trump opens his mouth, he creates new allies for all of us. So, let’s get organized! To fight back against a big powerful bully, you need strength in numbers.”
