It’s too soon to tell how this will go

I wasn’t expecting two nations to become one but the prime minister and the president met, had a handshake that lasted a reasonable amount of time, spoke highly of the countries, posed for pictures and it was over.

Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump met at the White House earlier in the week. The purpose of the visit was to have their first sit down and seemingly lay the foundation of what will hopefully be a pleasant four years for Canadians and a constant scrutiny by the neighbours to the south.

Because much of my radio audience is American I was peppered with tweets and emails from people wondering what I thought of the meeting between the two leaders. My answer was simple: I really don’t have an opinion right now.

We already know Trudeau and Trump won’t agree on everything and that’s fine, they don’t have to. They will have to work together. Their situation won’t be much different than people in other jobs (minus that whole leading a country thing). Most people in their job have someone they need to tolerate for the sake of getting things done.

In this instance, if one of the men starts to pressure the other – and I think we know who is more likely to do that aggressively between the two – then it could potentially become a problem.

But as Trudeau and Trump confirmed, the relationship between the two countries is vital for the respective economies with $2 billion crossing the border every day. Does either country pose a threat to the other? Not really, as far as I have heard.

So unlike most people chiming in on the whole political landscape, I really reserve my opinion until something happens between the countries. There is no sense in getting worked up now when who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Even with my neutral response, a lot of Americans weren’t happy. And guess what. I really didn’t care. It’s our non-confrontational and laid-back attitudes that make Canadians wonderful people and the country a welcoming place for people to visit.

If that makes us losers in the eyes of others because we won’t be combative and verbally attack complete strangers, hey, I’ll take it. Let’s be proud of our positive reputation, fellow losers.