The Duality of Citizenship
By Nathan Piette
Staff Writer
Last year, something happened to me I never expected. I became a Canadian citizen. I was already an American citizen, born and raised in the United States, but Canada has always existed in my family before it ever existed on my passport. My Pépère, Québécois French for grandfather, was a Canadian citizen. On Dec. 15, 2025, Canada’s Bill C-3 went into effect. This changed the rules surrounding citizenship by descent. For people like me, born outside Canada in a later generation, that change meant something much more personal than a piece of legislation. Borders now saw me as American, and Canadian. I thought having two citizenships would feel like having two homes. That feeling is definitely there, but it feels more like I’m splitting my time between two divorced parents that live next door to each other. Mom and Dad are at war. I’m not sure which country is which, although I am sure I won’t be calling Donald Trump “daddy,” but I am sure of where this war of words started. The dispute has been building for more than a year. President Donald Trump began the current round in February 2025 by ordering additional tariffs of 25 percent on most Canadian goods, with another 10 percent on Canadian energy products. Those tariffs were initially scheduled for Feb. 4, then delayed until March 4 while the United States evaluated Canadian measures concerning the border and fentanyl trafficking. After they took effect, the United States subsequently exempted goods that met USMCA rules of origin, leaving the additional tariffs focused largely on goods that did not qualify under the agreement. In short, the United States was mad and demanding, but unsure of why and how it should display its rage. Canada answered immediately. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ottawa imposed 25 percent tariffs on $30 billion worth of American products. The Canadian government joined in. The combined provinces totaled $155 billion in retaliation. This trade war continued to escalate every few weeks through August 2026. The total trade tax numbers are tariff-ying. International trade does not just exist in balance sheets. Americans and Canadians have been brought into an economic war that is just being passed on to the wallets of the citizens. I paid $1,291 to fill my home-heating oil tank last night. That will last about two months. The grand culmination of all this violent bickering has resulted in the ultimate play from Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney - the bid for Canada to join the European Union as a special “associate member.” The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, recently voiced support for Carney’s bid, opening the door to something that would have sounded unimaginable before. This is more than a title. This would completely change the economics of Canada. They would join the conglomerate of EU countries, and subsequently change their bargaining power against the US and the world at large. They will no longer be our little sibling that has to tag along just as we demand. They would effectively rival our scale, and surpass us in mobility. Someone like me could drive across the border, enter EU territory, and travel throughout Europe like a cousin coming home. Maybe I wouldn’t come back. Maybe I would try, but I wouldn’t be welcomed. Or the US could scale back its inflammatory measures, and we could return to cooperative normalcy… maybe. One thing is for certain, I want to see peace and prosperity for all. I may just have to stay with “Mommy Mark” for a while.
