This morning’s Globe and Mail included a quite disturbing story about the recent visit of Kristi Noem, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, to the Haskell Free Library. Seated directly on the border, this library is half in the Province of Québec and half in the State of Vermont.

The black line of electrical tape across the floor in this photo demarks the actual international border. Once a symbol to the world of two neighbouring allied nations living together in harmony, Ms. Noem chose to make a disgusting mockery of that symbol, dancing back and forth over the line chanting “USA No. 1” on the one side and “51st State” on the other. As a former diplomatic officer, I can attest to such crass behavior by a senior member of a foreign government while on the soil of another nation being unprecedented. There could be no clearer sign of the Trump administration being the antithesis of any government Canadians would ever voluntarily live under.

My own response today will be to cancel my Prime account and inform Amazon why they should not expect any future purchases from me given the apparent coziness between owner Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump.

Note also that today is Commonwealth Day, a reminder that we have other valuable ties in this world beyond the USA. While the UK’s new Prime Minister has been disappointingly toadying to Mr. Trump, we should be reinforcing our friendships with Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth partners.