If war was the measure to more land in the 20th Century, petitions are the modern means for annexation.
Two weeks ago a gentleman by the name of Ian Hammond launched a petition on Change.org proposing that the United States sell Montana to Canada for $1 trillion. The reason? To eliminate national debt.
The petition has more than 16,000 signatures to date, which suggests there are at least a few people truly in favour of such a deal. Let’s check in on a few of those voices:
“I’m Montanan and hoping to join Canada without the moving costs. Let’s do this. Please adopt us,” says one petitioner. “Honestly most Montanans are totally ok with this let’s do it I’m fine with being out of this hellhole,” adds another. Certainly some strong cases.
Of course, selling Montana to Canada for $1 trillion still leaves the U.S. with about $22 trillion of national debt. Not to mention, Canada has a national debt of $1.4 trillion of its own. Aside from the terrible economics, there is absolutely no plan for making this happen. As far as I can tell, no official of any kind has involved themselves in the matter.
Nevertheless, it’s fun to speculate. At 380,000 square kilometres, Montana registers as our southern neighbours’ fourth-largest state. It also has one of the lowest population densities in the country – Montana is home to merely 1,062,330. While that doesn’t contribute much to our master plan of being home to 100 million people by the year 2100, we would add some incredible landscapes to our already stacked natural arsenal.
Not since rumours of acquiring Turks and Caicos has the prospect of an 11th province been so hot.