Longest Undefended Border No More [View all]

The U.S.-Canada border stretches from ocean to ocean to ocean, and from sea level to the 18,008-foot summit of Mt. St. Elias at the Yukon-Alaska line. It’s a border crossed by great rivers (Columbia, Yukon) harnessed and managed by both countries.

As a high school kid, I witnessed the 1964 signing of the Columbia River Treaty, which provided for three big dams in British Columbia to store water that would power the great powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam. When President Trump says Canada has nothing we need, flick on a light switch and prove him wrong.

Trump is making noise as the treaty is in the process of being renegotiated, with the White House coveting Canada’s water. And he wants oil drilling in the trans-boundary Arctic migration route of the Porcupine Caribou herd. He has spoken of making Canada “the 51st state” and launched a tariff war. Canadians are taking him seriously, appalled at the breach of longstanding ties.

As well they might. Canadian exports to the states totaled $434 billion in 2024, three quarters of the country’s total. In turn, $349 billion in worth of exports traveled north to Canada.

https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/19/longest-undefended-border-no-more/