Dem
47
GOP
53
Here is the question we put before readers last week:
P.W. in Springwater, NY, asks: I just returned from vacation in Churchill, Manitoba, and while it seemed that most Canadians do not blame the American people—at least those of us who didn't vote for TCF—they really didn't understand how he could have been elected... again. So, here's my question: What is the most appropriate and effective way to show Canada and/or Ukraine that I'm on their sides?
And here some of the answers we got in response:
D.J.M. in Salmon Arm, BC, Canada: I tutor a native Ukrainian living in Kyiv to help him improve his English language skills and connect with the outside world. Responding to idioms, rapid speech and changing subjects always poses a tremendous challenge. Any EVers who might want to help can volunteer with the ENGin program. They are a highly competent organization with a dedicated mission to assist Ukrainian people in a time of need.
P.F. in Fairbanks, AK: Several of your readers expressed that they wish they could contact President Zelenskyy. I did so using the e-mail address provided on the Ukrainian embassy's website.
C.B. in Highlands, NJ: I got this from Blue Sky on how to send Volodymyr Zelenskyy a letter, call or e-mail:
If you would like to write to President Zelenskyy and offer your support or apology, here is his contact information:
Phone: 202-349-2963
Postal Mail: Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Embassy of Ukraine, 3350 M. St. NW, Washington DC 20007
E-mail: emb_us@mfa.gov.uaPlease share with your readers. I know I'll be writing to him.
M.G. in Boulder, CO: Consider a lapel pin. Amazon has a great assortment of maple leaf pins and lots and lots of Ukrainian flag pins, including crossed American and Ukrainian flag pins. (They also have Canadian flag pins, some in multiples, so that a carload of Americans can arrive in Canada wearing identical Canadian flag pins.) Want something unique? If you ask Google for a search on "lapel," the first entries are from businesses that will let you design your own lapel pin.
M.M. in San Diego, CA: Amazon sells yard signs of the Ukrainian flag and the Canadian flag, just like campaign signs.
My favorite charity is a twofer: SaintJavelin.com. Founded by a Canadian journalist who covered Ukraine prior to the war, it sells clothing and other merchandise made in Ukraine with all proceeds going to help kit out Ukrainian troops with winter gear and medical supplies. Because it's had a huge surge in support after the Oval Office ambush, it is temporarily outsourcing some of the clothing manufacturing that would typically be produced in Ukraine.
J.N. in Summit, NJ: We are supporting Ukraine by putting up a lawn sign like this actual sign that Summit Area Indivisible (in Summit, NJ) is selling to raise funds for United24:
This campaign spreads awareness of what is happening in Ukraine, shows public support for them, and also gets money to help them. Full disclosure: I am the nominal leader of our chapter of Indivisible, inasmuch as we have no by-laws and are not a registered organization. We did a similar campaign in 2022 and raised over $4,000 for charities in Ukraine. We have an Act Blue page toward that end. Anyone or any group can copy or modify our design, and we would be ecstatic if similar lawn signs pop up in other areas. We are also, of course, happy to sell more signs, but we are not Amazon, and the only way to get one of our signs is to pick them up locally.
As for supporting Canada, they already have plans in motion to take over the U.S., and the Trump administration is playing the useful idiot in those plans. Canada is playing 3-D chess here and doesn't need our help.
A.B. in Wendell, NC: Well, I still have the Ukrainian flag as my banner on my Facebook page. You might try getting a maple-leaf tattoo, or start proclaiming that Geddy Lee is God. By the way, I think he is... (lol).
I have a chosen sister (I wasn't lucky enough to have a natural sister... just an idiot brother who loves TCF) who is a dual American-Canadian citizen, and is my ticket out if things get bad enough. In spite of being a trans woman, and thus one of the main targets of TCF at this time, I don't really think it will get that bad, because we already see a lot of pushback. But when you are me in America, right now... it doesn't hurt to have a Plan B just in case!
All that said, the best way for you to show support for Canada and Ukraine is to engage in as much pushback as you can, and it will have the added benefit of helping us all right here in America. The more pushback the better. I have said before, and I stand by this: Trump is fighting too many battles on too many fronts. Call him Don Quixote. I know it when I see it, because it took me a very long time in my own life to learn how to choose my battles.
In short, anything visible, and preferably in the form of pushback, will let our Ukrainian and Canadian friends know where we stand... and it is NOT with TCF.
J.F. in Sloatsburg, NY: The best way I've found to express that "I am not one of those idiots, I'm on your side" is to understand and accept that Americans have a reputation for being loud, rude, annoying, obnoxious, entitled, arrogant, disrespectful, egotistical, and troublesome tourists, that this reputation is fully justified, and that this was true long before the current wave of anti-tourist sentiment. Therefore, you should go hard in the other direction. That alone will earn you a great deal of consideration from locals you interact with.
Beyond that, I follow the advice a Brit gave me back in the days of Bush the Lesser: Be understated but clear. In my study abroad days, that meant tying a blue ribbon—white, after Iraq—to the zipper pulls on my backpack. Today, it's a small Ukrainian flag pin on the strap of my shoulder bag, or worn as a lapel pin or tie-tack for occasions requiring a suit. The meaning is instantly clear.
Finally, if someone does ask "How could this happen?", "What do you think?", "What now?", etc., keep it simple. They're not looking for discourse; they're looking for reassurance that we haven't all gone mad.
N.M in the Hudson Valley, NY: Anytime I go to Canada (which is pretty often, as I live an afternoon's drive away), I present myself as a New Yorker. This also has worked for me in most of Europe. The natives know the difference. Perhaps I'm just lucky to have lived here all my life, even if in various parts of the state. I've never left and don't expect to leave. At least for some time.
R.G.N. in Seattle, WA: There is always the method my wife and I used in Europe during the Vietnam War; sew maple leafs on every available pack, hat, and scrap of luggage. I occasionally wore an olive-colored safari jacket, but I was mistaken for a NATO serviceman from the Frozen North. Having a wife who could speak German and French helped.
D.S. in Layton, UT: There are a lot of passive-aggressive signals. For example, Mrs. S of Layton has a t-Shirt and I have a baseball cap that say "Gulf of Mexico, est. 1550" that we purchased on Amazon. There are other subtle shirts and caps available that signal that you are not living in The Twilight Zone by choice.
A.G. in Scranton, PA: Grow a mullet, wear it proudly.
Find a moose, care for it kindly.
Eat pancakes by the stack, syrup them liberally.
Be kind and orderly, cling to Canadian values dearly.
Stay informed and be civil towards others, always act with decency.
Oh, and send U.S. dollars to them before greenbacks are basically modern-day Confederate currency circa 1866.
P.K. in Marshalltown, IA: For Canada? Root for a Canadian team (Winnipeg, for me) to win the Stanley Cup. Join us who rooted for Canada to win the Four Nations (and are embarrassed by Wayne Gretzky's performance as honorary team captain).
J.D. in St. Paul, MN: To the question of showing Canadians and others that I oppose Trump, I apply my rule for bumper stickers, which can be summarized as follows: Just don't. Perfect strangers do not care who you are or what you think. Spare them your angst. If you find yourself in a conversation with a non-American and the context is right for you to slip in a preferably light-hearted or humorous Trump dissent, do that. Otherwise, be a quiet American. Bear your shame. Resist the self-indulgence of broadcasting it.
B.T in Toronto, ON, Canada: The best way to show us is to fight like hell for your own country. The thing that appalls us most is not being betrayed by a long-time ally, because Donald Trump has been pretty despised by the majority of Canadians since his first term. It is more how much of the Republican Party seems to have zero issues following his marching orders and/or acting with the utmost enthusiasm towards them. The weak response by the Democratic Party in general has dismayed us and the general mood now is that our country and Mexico are on their own against a rogue state.
I just want to underline that the mood towards Americans in Canada is the worst it's been in my lifetime. I can only compare it to stories from my grandfather when Canada joined World War II in 1939 while the U.S. maintained its isolationist stance until the end of 1941. We do not blame individual Americans. We get your broken electoral system, voter suppression and the corrosive influence of dark money and radicalized social media on Americans. But something intangible between our countries is gone for good at this point. It's important that Americans understand that the U.S. has taught us over the last 6 weeks that any "special relationship" is wholly transactional and dependent on whatever the next lunatic is they elect to the White House, and we're making the necessary adjustments.
A.S. in Renton, WA: I thought I was supporting my Canadian friends by sharing clever pro-Canadian memes, and by suggesting to them that they "Buy Canadian" via joining a local CSA program and buying a farm share. (This list is not comprehensive.)
But last week's question made me realize I had never actually asked them how they would like to be supported. So I did, and several of them responded:
- "That you even make the offer feels like love. I honestly think the main thing is to pray for both of our countries that our friendship and good neighborliness will survive this time."
- "The fact that you care means the world to me, as it reminds me that not all Americans think the same way. I would say if you could talk to other people there and let them know that we exist and that the friendship between our two countries is important, that would help. Maybe the public could put pressure on the government to change their minds. Unfortunately I don't plan to visit the U.S. anytime soon because of the current climate."
- "It's a complicated season in our national relationship. However, I don't feel any less love for or from my individual American friends."
- "I agree with all that's been said, but I do feel that contacting your local members of Congress or senators to tell them that what's happening to Canada (tariffs and 51st-state talk) is not okay. I also will not travel to the U.S. right now, and I will do whatever I can to avoid U.S. purchasing. Perhaps inconsequential, financially speaking, for the U.S. economy, but a firm "stake in the ground" as an "Elbows Up" Canadian."
- "Thank you for thinking of us all! We love our American friends and family, of which I have many. I agree with [friend four]—Americans pushing back on what is happening within the U.S. is one of the best ways to show love to Canada right now. The aggression on Canada is part of a much bigger problem for America, and the sooner Trump/Musk/et al. can be subdued, the better for the world. My husband is right ticked and has been calling congresspersons from here in Canada, blue and red alike, to let them know that this is not okay treatment of America's neighbor and it's not okay for Trump to erode the separation of power in government, something [husband's name] has always admired about the American government. We are praying for America, for a way through and out of this."
P.L. in Morelia, Mexico: While I'm all for my fellow Americans expressing solidarity with Canada and Ukraine, and often do so myself on social media (sorry, that's the extent of my creativity for now), I do wonder why expressing solidarity with Mexico is not in the conversation. While Ukraine going under would certainly be catastrophic for current world geopolitics, I don't think any thinking person could deny that Trump's threats to Mexico pose a greater risk to the U.S. than his threats to Canada. If Trump manages to sink the Mexican economy, this will inevitably cause increases in political instability, undocumented immigration, and opportunities for cartel expansion. The same cannot be said for an economic downturn in Canada.
Of course, I live in Mexico, so this is not an unbiased opinion. But I believe it is the correct one. Americans, stand by Mexico!
Here is the question for next week (time for a less heavy one):
C.C. in St Paul, MN, asks: Which Star Trek character would have your vote for U.S. president and why (ignoring the fact they wouldn't meet the constitutional requirements)?
Submit your answers to comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject line "I'm a Doctor, Not a President"!