Dear Canada: Let us explain

— Matthew Bernstein, Boston Globe letters editor

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To our treasured Canadian neighbors and friends:

It is indeed a dark time in the United States, with dark forces prevailing. However, we wish to assure you that, while Donald Trump may represent the worst in us, he most assuredly does not represent a majority of us; and our majority will keep fighting until the wheel turns and we have put paid to this reprehensible chapter in our history.

In the meantime, we hope that you will not lose faith in us; that you will, by your example, continue to lead us higher; and that at length we will once again be steadfast allies, prospering under the brighter ideals we have shared for so long.

With unbroken affection,

Thomas Marton, Brookline

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My husband and I are lifelong Bostonians. We were married almost 51 years ago, Aug. 3, 1974, and honeymooned in Quebec. Days later, in a small coffee shop, our Canadian waitress approached our table and said, “Your president just resigned,” saying aloud the words we had been longing to hear, thus ending two years of turmoil, coverups, and disgrace.

Richard Nixon was an altar boy compared with the entity who is currently impersonating the president of the United States. Donald Trump has trashed our Oval Office and soiled the history and dignity of our beautiful White House. Now he is trying to use you and other allies in yet another shameless attempt to get whatever he wants.

You have remained our neighbors, our friends, our families since the beginning. His betrayal should not change or break this bond. We need you. One day soon, he will be gone from the political stage. Please, be patient, and forever, thank you.

Sandra Regan, Winthrop

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I am dismayed that some of our Canadian friends think that we in Massachusetts elected Donald Trump. A majority of us and more than half of the country’s voters did not support him. Unfortunately, that means nearly half did, and he prevailed in the electoral vote.

But if you think what’s happening in the United States can’t happen in Canada, think again. All you need is a large enough group of unhappy citizens, a charismatic politician who tells those citizens that [fill in the blank] is to blame for their situation and that he or she alone can fix it, a political party that fears retribution if they don’t support their leader, a judiciary with some members beholden to the politician for their lifetime appointments, and a steady stream of lies spread broadly and instantly by social media and aligned “news” networks.

Casting aside our allies, stopping international relief, threatening world-class universities and withholding research grants — this is not the America I’ve known and loved. We are working hard to counter his actions in the courts and remove his congressional majority in the midterms. Please pray for us.

Marjorie Martin, Framingham

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I am two generations removed from your country, where four previous generations of my family (including my grandparents) are buried in a small rural cemetery in southern Ontario. My ancestors first came to Canada in 1823, but my father and I were born in the United States. My affection for your country runs deep, so allow me to offer some fraternal advice: What happened here can happen anywhere. We did not think it could happen to us, but it did.

Please continue to cherish and protect the soul of Canada, as you define it and experience it. Do not doubt that the seeds of its destruction are already planted among you, as they were planted among us in our past and grew to challenge the soul of America. As “the True North strong and free,” please remain vigilant, “on guard” against those among you (and among us here as well) who might want to take over your country.

I pray that like the prodigal son of the Bible, we here in the United States will repent what we have done and will soon return to our North American family chastened and wiser, and that you will welcome us once again.

David L. Coulter, Natick

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I am a proud citizen of both Canada and the United States. My father was born in Newfoundland (Ireland’s Eye, to be specific) and served in the British Navy during World War II. I love my Canadian relatives dearly and have visited many provinces. I strongly urge the people of Canada to resist Donald Trump’s threats.

I want to assure you that many Americans do not support his racist, sexist, and homophobic agenda. He understands only money, so I support you in not spending yours in the United States (although I’ll miss overhearing that lovely French as I sit on the beach this summer). Urge your elected officials not to compromise in the face of Trump’s tariffs. Take your products to other countries. Do not let the bully win.

The short-term economic losses to both our countries are worth the long-term success of freedom, democracy, and kindness.

You have a strong, wonderful country, and I hope we can soon restore your faith in ours.

Donna R. Cooper, Provincetown

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From our vacation rental cottage on beautiful Cape Cod, I read the June 28 Readers’ Forum with dismay (“ ‘Dear American neighbours’: Canadian paper’s readers would like to send us a message”). My fellow Canadians from Quebec, my birthplace, are disparaging our American friends for electing Donald Trump president. Americans voters’ only other option was Kamala Harris, a disastrous candidate for the Democratic Party.

Listen up fellow Canadians and in particular Quebecois: Trump’s tariff war is an ill-conceived trade policy. However, Canada’s current susceptibility to outside economic pressures is our own fault. And it is partly Quebec’s fault.

We elected the Justin Trudeau Liberal government to retain power over the past 10 years. His mismanagement of the economy, bloated bureaucracy, profligate spending, environmental wokeism, hostility to business investment, protectionist practices, overregulation, and tax policy practically annihilated our economy and left us defenseless against external fiscal threats.

Canada’s current economic pressures are a result of our own political choices, not those of our American friends.

Larry Sylvester, Acton, Ontario

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When Donald Trump began his second run for the US presidency, our only son pronounced that he would move to Canada if Trump were to be elected again. True to his word, he applied for and has been granted permanent residency in your country. He plans to leave his home and move to Nova Scotia in the fall.

As parents, we admire his courage and conviction, but we are heartbroken. What a shame that he believes he needs to forsake the country of his birth because of this arrogant, injudicious leader.

We hope you will welcome him with open arms.

Nancy and Don Hunton, Acton

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For years, some of my Pakistani friends and I had been sharing the hope that someday the sequence of cold and hot wars between India and Pakistan would evolve into a peaceful, anodyne coexistence such as was evident to us between the United States and Canada. There, we thought, was a relationship without mutual suspicion and acrimony and marked by easy, smile-accompanying movements of people and goods across the border.

How naive we were! Mere months into Donald Trump’s second term, that fond image of American-Canadian good neighborliness seems on the verge of devolving into the India-Pakistan pattern of hostility, with most of it coming from Washington.

To be sure, there’s no hot war between the two countries, nor, thankfully, is a high likelihood of it on the horizon, but it surely does feel like a cold war. Sad!

Vipan Chandra, Attleboro

The writer is a professor emeritus of history at Wheaton College.

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Both as individuals and as a couple, we have had the great good fortune to spend time in many of Canada’s provinces over several decades.

The more one learns about Canada, the more one realizes that in no way does it resemble a 51st state. Its natural beauty, cultural diversity, and unique history dispel any doubt about Canada’s distinctive identity.

There’s no way to list the hundreds of memorable experiences Canada has provided us, but the themes of respect and warmth shine through them all. One significant example was our honeymoon in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011, when Canada recognized our marriage before our own national government did. One small example was the patience with which the proprietor and guests of our Quebec City B&B handled our imperfect French during breakfast.

We really love Canada and are really distressed by our current government’s behavior. We hope Canadians know that many Americans share our feelings.

Stephen Knowlton

Joseph Pettigrew

Somerville

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Canadians and Americans fought and died side by side in World War II to save democracy. We share the longest border in the world. Massachusetts came to the aid of Halifax after the explosion in 1917, and Nova Scotia has been giving Boston a glorious Christmas tree in thanks ever since. We are more than neighbors; we share ancestors.

The hostility shown by the current US administration toward our Canadian friends fails to recognize these centuries-old bonds. However, there are countless everyday Americans who haven’t forgotten and who fervently hope this pointless antagonism will be short-lived.

Please bear with us while we clean up on aisle 47.

Karen Bell, Walpole