The United States and Canada should merge into one nation.

Framework

1. Before we get into the benefits of creating one nation out of The United States and Canada, we have to outline how it would happen. This would require amendments to both national constitutions. The United States has to get approval from two thirds of both federal legislative houses and ratification from three fourths of state legislatures. ¹ Canada would need both federal houses to approve as well as two thirds of provinces equating to at least 50% of the population. ² Upon both nations agreeing to merge this way, they would also outline how a new constitution would be created for the new nation. It would most likely include referendums in both nations, federal approval from both nations, and a majority of state approval for each nation. This can be clarified or debated if needed, but in general, we're debating about a consensual, mutually agreeable combination of the nations.

My Case

1. We would become an economic powerhouse. The United States GDP is $19.485 trillion (rank 1st) while Canada's is $1.647 trillion (rank 10th).³ Now, per capita, the United States is $59,939 (8th) and Canada is $44,841 (18th). Now, if we merged these, the GDP would be $21.132 trillion (still ranked first). Lastly, we can do a final comparison with the EU. The GDP of the EU would be the new second at $14.736. ⁴ Now, the GDP per capita for the newly formed nation would be $58,232 (still ranking 8th like the US). ^5,6 All population, GDP, and found GDP per capita (I had to calculate the GDP per capita for the new nation) are for the year 2017. Out of all the economic statistics, GDP per capita for the United States goes down a little bit, but not even enough to take it down a rank. This improves the general economy of both nations in the long run.

2. We have to look at resources, starting with oil. Canada and the United States combined have 218.9 billion barrels in reserve total (Canada has 168.9 billion ranking third, United States has 50 billion ranking ninth).⁷ Now, while this wouldn't close the gap pushing the newly formed nation into the second place spot, it definitely would create the largest non-OPEC oil producer, being the only one in the top ten oil producing nations.⁸ This creates a huge power shift in oil markets, allowing democracies to shift away from having to purchase oil from autocratic nations. Oil markets ensure that autocratic nations stay in power, but by ensuring that established democracies are in competition for the market, it shakes credibility for autocratic nations. ⁹ Another resource to pay attention to is arable land. The United States is ranked first with 10.48% of the globes arable land.¹⁰ Canada ranks seventh with 2.64%, and by combining these nations we would be left with a nation that still ranks 1st in arable land and have the capability to outpace nations like India, Russia, and China with a larger gap.

3. Next, we can look at military. The United States ranks first and Canada ranks twelfth in power,¹¹ and by merging these, we can create a nation that provide a stalwart guard from Russia and China, benefiting not only themselves, but nations at risk from their aggression like Ukraine, India, and Taiwan.

4. There is a large amount of immigration and interconnectedness between the United States and Canada. There are 3.3 million Canadians living within the United States. ¹² This is over 10% of the population of Canada residing within the United States. There are also 377,000 Americans in Canada. ¹³ This shows that there is a large cultural similarity and exchange between the two nations. There would be a great assimilation into one nation culturally, as can be shown by the amount of people who already partake in both cultures.

Summary

The United States and Canada are two democratic, free market, North American nations that can only benefit from merging. Their economies, resources, military, and cultures are already set up beneficial to one another, and can only be improved by merging these forces.

Sources

1.https://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/amending-the-u-s-constitution.aspx#:~:text=Congress%20may%20submit%20a%20proposed,%2C%2034%20of%2050%20states).

2.https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/Committees/Meech_Lake_1987/mlr-ch13.html#:~:text=First%2C%20section%2038%20of%20the,the%20population%20of%20all%20provinces.

3.https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-by-country/

4.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=EU-US-CN

5.https://www.census.gov/popclock/

6.https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180322/dq180322c-eng.htm

7.https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/22/largest-oil-reserves-in-world-15-countries-that-control-the-worlds-oil/39497945/

8.https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm

9.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/17/how-oil-helps-dictatorships-survive/

10.https://beef2live.com/story-countries-arable-land-world-0-108929

11.https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/power-rankings

12.https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/canadian-immigrants-united-states-2016#:~:text=The%20Canadian%20diaspora%20in%20the,U.S.%20Census%20Bureau%202016%20ACS.

13.https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=01&SO=4D