5 former prime ministers say fly the maple leaf on Saturday to stand up to Trump

All of the country's living former prime ministers are asking Canadians to fly the red maple leaf this weekend in a huge display of national pride as the country stares down U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to its economy and sovereignty.

Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper have jointly written an open letter, telling Canadians to "show the flag as never before" as the country contends with "threats and insults from Donald Trump."

snip

The five former prime ministers write they have "witnessed a surge of Canadian pride and patriotism" in the wake of Trump's threats and they are heartened to see so many people "come together to express their love for our country and their determination to defend Canada's values and our independence."

snip

Since his inauguration last month, Trump has repeatedly mocked Canada's economy and military and has threatened to use "economic force" to somehow convince Canadians to join the U.S. as the 51st state. Polls show Canadians are overwhelmingly against the idea.

snip

Those actions have prompted an outpouring of national pride as many Canadians have opted to buy domestic products — there's a Made in Canada Facebook group with nearly 900,000 members — and some grocers are reporting shoppers are outright boycotting American goods to protest Trump. There's also been a decline in cross-border trips with U.S. wait times much shorter than usual at some ports of entry.

more

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fly-the-flag-former-prime-ministers-1.7456407