A lot of Canadians are very defensive when it comes to a perceived threat from the south. I perceive that threat too. I don't want Canada to be the Poland of the 21st century any more than any other Canadian does, but Canadians should wake up to the fact that it is a pipe dream to believe that in a world of dwindling resources, water specifically, accompanied by climate change that could parch the US southwest, that we can stand pat and watch our neighbor shrivel up and get away with it.

We will not get away with it, nor should we get away with it.

Like it or not, our two countries are joined at the hip and the job of every Canadian politician should not be to separate the married couple a la Pierre Trudeau, but just to make sure those hips are facing in the direction that benefits and pleases both parties the most.

Like all marriages, it is going to take work, but we will make it work. There is no alternative.