Sowing the seeds of secession

President Elect Donald Trump needs to watch his mouth if he wants a country to be president of after his inauguration.

Alongside suggesting annexing the Panama Canal and buying Greenland, Trump posited Canada as the 51st state of the Union. This diplomatic outrage prompted an ironical response from veteran Canadian Green politician, Elizabeth May, who countered that instead California might wish to join Canada, before mentioning the concept of Cascadia.

She was only partly joking. 'Cascadia', a vision of the contiguous US Pacific Coastal states of California, Oregon and Washington joining Canada in a liberal coalition has been around for many years - it even has a flag. Since 1992 these states have consistently voted Democrat in US Presidential elections. Pledging “safer streets, strict gun laws and free abortions" she suggested that were the United States to allow the secession of its West Coast it would “get rid of all these states that always vote democrat.”

In an upbeat address to a Parliament Hill press conference she countered Trump's taunt by saying, "You think we want to be the 51st state? Nah. Maybe California would like to be the 11th Province. How about it? Have we got a deal for you; free health care. Universal free health care. No more one-year-olds who suddenly fall off the Medicaid list and their parents are in the news because they’re trying to do a GoFundMe to get their daughter to a doctor."

Joking apart, Trump's dismissive response to the unfolding tragedy in Los Angeles, calling the California Democrat Governor, Gavin Newsom, "Newscum", might well come back to haunt his presidency. One can only hope. As a high-profile climate change denier, Trump will, as President, have to deal with the growing impact of global warming on extreme weather events in the US, of which the California fires are just the latest.

One major legacy of this disaster will be its insurance implications. Many of the LA properties destroyed in the conflagration had been refused cover by insurance companies. Following the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, outside a New York hotel recently, allegedly by a man refused cover, the US insurance industry is already in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. It now falls to Trump to deal with this issue.

As President, he will face a major financial challenge dealing with a backlash from potentially millions of angry citizens whose lives have been ruined by lack of insurance cover. His recent dismissive comments will have done nothing to endear him to those already antagonistic to his presidency. And in California many of the victims are extremely high-profile Hollywood stars, media moguls and company executives who command a powerful PR platform. Trump has pissed off some seriously influential Americans and now faces a hit of billions of dollars to his precious economy.

Add to this the fact that around a third of Angelinos are of Mexican heritage so Trump's hate-filled rhetoric about immigrants, especially those from Mexico, will not be forgotten or forgiven. President Claudia Sheibaum of Mexico has sent a contingent of firefighters over the border to help tackle the blaze saying, "We are a country of generosity and solidarity." That generosity of spirit will be viewed in stark contrast to Trump's arrogant dismissal. 

As for bragging about a 51st state, he might yet find himself 47th President of only 47.

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