Why I Won't be Going by Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany here. For all the years it’s been running so successfully, the mandate of Mystery Lovers Kitchen has been food. Food and books and highlighting our authors and their culinary books and our marvellous guest authors.

For the first time ever, I’m stepping outside of that mandate with a personal message. I want to explain to you, as well as I am able, why I have cancelled all of my forthcoming appearances in the US. Including Malice Domestic, Bouchercon, book signings, library talks, and festivals.  

The Canadian contingent at Bouchercon, Indianapolis, 2009 

This is strictly my own opinion, and the other MLK authors have not provided input in any way, other than to allow me to say what I have to say. 

I invite you to join the conversation in a polite and considerate manner. Abuse of any sort will not be tolerated and the comment removed. 

It’s been somewhat surreal to suddenly find that I, as a Canadian citizen, am an enemy of the United States. Out of literally nowhere, the President of the United States and many of his advisors are making outright threats against Canada. They say they don’t believe that Canada is a ‘real country’ (Elon Musk), that Canadians want to be the 51^st State (Donald Trump) that our borders are up for discussion (Trump again), and Canada has (apparently without any of us noticing)  been ‘taken over by Mexican cartels’ (Peter Navarro) .

Every one of these points is laughingly untrue. A lie if you will.

Do Canadians want to be a 51^st State? Not according to this poll by respected pollster Angus Reid conducted on March 12, 2025

51st State: Canadian resolve in saying ‘no’ continues, while a massive gap between Trump & Americans is revealed -

Is Canada a real county? What does that even mean?  We think we are – therefore we are.

Are our borders negotiable without our agreement?  Not according to international law, but if you want to go there take a look at Maine and Alaska and tell me where they should be.

Has Canada been taken over by Mexican cartels? They must be awfully well hidden, as you almost never hear Spanish spoken in Canada.

I believe Canada, and the entire democratic world, is at an existential crossroads. The current regime in the United States is determined, for whatever demented reason, to eliminate Canada as an independent country, by whatever means necessary.  The insults from the President and other members of the regime against our Prime Minster personally (and yes, Governor is an insult and meant as such) as well as the country as a whole  are relentless. The tone and much of the wording is exactly the same as used by Russia prior to its invasion of Ukraine as in the examples I gave above.  

We don’t for a minute believe, even if this comes to pass, we would be a “51^st state.”  We wouldn’t be a state, with voting rights and government investment, but a colony, a vassal to be exploited for resources.  We believe this intended exploitation is the entire purpose of this out-of-nowhere threat.

In 2019, the leaders of the United States, Canada, and Mexico negotiated a revised free trade treaty called CUSMA (CanadaUSMexicoAgreement). This treaty is up for renewal in 2026. 2026. Not today. Showing that the word of the President of the United States is meaningless, Trump has overturned the agreement and slapped steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Trump’s excuse for tearing up the treaty is that Canada is allowing fentanyl to “pour’ across the border. That is an out and out lie.

According to CNN on Feb 3, 2025 :  Fact check: Canada makes up just 0.2% of US border fentanyl seizures | CNN Politics

Federal statistics show US border authorities seized 21,889 pounds of fentanyl in the 2024 fiscal year. Of that amount, 43 pounds were seized at the Canadian border — about 0.2%

Only a month later, on March 4, 2025,  then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quoted data from US customs and border protection:

“..fentanyl seizures from Canada have dropped 97 per cent between December 2024 and January 2025 to a near-zero low of 0.03 pounds seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

Near zero. Down from a very low figure to begin with.  

Therefore, there is literally nothing Canada can do, as the PM pointed out, to fix a problem that does not exist.  (As an aside there are no customs and immigration checks upon leaving either Canada or the US for the other country.  Is it not, therefore, the responsibility of US customs to stop illicit goods coming in? Never mind attempting to solve the fentanyl problem in your country yourselves.)

Why then does Trump keep repeating the lie? Because it isn’t about making trade ‘fair’ or fixing problems that don’t exist, and thus cannot be fixed, but creating circumstances to permit the annexation of Canada’s Arctic, natural resources, and water. Remember the very large faucet that apparently all we have to do is turn on? 

This isn’t a trade dispute; it is an outright attack on our sovereignty and Canadians are coming together in a way they haven’t since WWII.  We are well aware that a trade war hurts everyone, but the Government of Canada believes appeasement will accomplish nothing, so Canada has imposed tariffs on a wide range of US goods.

As well as retaliatory tariffs, Canadians are fighting back in other ways. Stores are posting stickers on shelves indicating Canadian goods. Apps are being created to indicate the nationality of companies and the source of their product, and Canadians are taking those apps shopping. The world’s largest purchaser of alcohol is the Ontario liquor stores - all US products have been removed from the shelves and the same thing is happening in other provinces.  The province of Ontario (where I live) announced a 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to the US (now on ‘pause’ pending further developments.) Substantial numbers of Canadians are cancelling holidays to the US, or, like me, forgoing optional business trips. The list goes on and continues to grow.

On March 19, the CBC reported that in February, 500,000 fewer Canadians travelled to the US from Canada than the same time last year.  Cross-border trips to the U.S. reach COVID lows with nearly 500,000 fewer travellers in February | CBC News.  So, yes. We are serious about this.

 

                                Ontario Liquor Store – March 2025, photo by Vicki Delany

We’re not interested in the game of ‘on-again, off-again, on-again’ Trump is engaging in. As long as the threat exists, Canada will retaliate.

Our new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has been very clear. "We will never, in any shape or form, be part of the US,” he said on March 14, 2025.

It has been said that Canadians are prepared to sacrifice much in this fight and Americans nothing, so we do have the upper hand. Which of course, considering your President, might not matter.

We will see how things pan out, but I am encouraged by the solid and vocal support we are getting from our many American friends.

There isn’t much I can do, as an average Canadian citizen, to resist these threats, other than make my position public, shop mindfully, and refuse to grace the United States by my presence, definitely not spend any money.  

I will admit the decision to forgo travel to the US is easier for me than it might be for self-published or small press authors and particularly for writers just starting their career. I have a solid social media following, I have a strong reader base, I’m active in two prominent online cozy mystery groups, I’ve been building my newsletter distribution list for twenty years.

It’s up to each of us to decide what’s best for us and for our country. I’ve made my decision.

Elbows up.

(You’ll be seeing the phrase “elbows up” a lot. That’s a hockey saying meaning to protect yourself and your teammates, to fight back.)

 

                                                     Vicki at Pennsylvania Tea Festival - 2023

           Vicki at Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale AZ, 2019

            Vicki at Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookstore, 2016