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Electric current1:14:23Live in the Free Haskell Library, right on the US border.
Best-selling author Louise Penny says it would be foolish to dismiss the 51st state rhetoric US President Donald Trump has repeatedly leveled at Canada.
“I think there's not a country that's been invaded, a people that's been attacked… that hasn't looked back and thought: What did I miss?” Penny told Current Matt Galloway in a special show with a live audience.
“Where was the point where this could be stopped? And I think we're at that point right now,” she said.
Penny performed on the stage of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a unique venue located on the border of the United States and Canada. Part of the building is located in Stansted, Quebec; part is located in Derby Line, Vermont.
The place has become embroiled in growing tensions between the two countries over the past year as Trump launched a trade war and threatened to use “economic power” to annex Canada and make it the 51st state. Earlier this year, the US government limited access on the US sidewhich forced the library to renovate and open access on the Canadian side. Penny contributed to this renovation fund, which raised over $140,000.
Her latest novel, Black Wolfexplores a sinister plot to make Canada the 51st state, although she stresses that she wrote the novel before Trump's re-election. She told Galloway of her surprise when the conspiracy became real policy. Here's part of their conversation.
You gave $50,000 for a new door on the Canadian side that some of our Canadian guests could walk through.
I just want to say that the reason I can afford this is because [my readers’] support. Because financially I've been very lucky throughout my 20-year career. And so it seemed natural, absolutely natural, to say thank you and give some – not all – to give some back.
You also said that creating a new door, these are your words, is the same as pointing the finger at the current administration. You close one door, we will open another.
So how symbolic are doors? Doors. They closed the door. And how elegant is the decision of the Canadian side, fully supported by the American part of the organization here, to simply say: “Well, everything is in order.” We'll just open our own. And that's what happened.
Are you good friends with Hillary Rodham Clinton? you wrote a book with her.
Yes.
Good friends Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny talk about their first novel together, State of Terror, which follows newly appointed US Secretary of State Ellen Adams and her fight to stop a series of international terrorist attacks.
Have you talked to her about what is happening now?
Some.
Could you share the content and tone of these conversations?
I mean, she loves the Eastern Townships. She loves to come. She was here last summer and said she felt safe for the first time since the inauguration. I've never heard her say that before. I think this is the first time she's physically afraid, but she's definitely afraid for American democracy and the American republic.
You started this book before Trump was re-elected, right?
I started this because it's two halves of one whole, starting with Gray Wolf and then Black Wolf being the other half. So it was actually designed three years ago.
Once a symbol of partnership between two friendly countries, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Stansted, Quebec, has recently become a point of tension as American authorities have now decided that the way they have operated for decades posed too great a threat to border security.
And how can one begin to think about the 51st state at this moment, long before these words came from the mouth of the current president? You told me you were worried that you had gone too far. Now you're worried if you've gone far enough.
It was a bit of a shock to hear Trump talk about the 51st state.
If you read the book, you'll see that I hope it seems like a natural progression.
And then when it actually happened in the real world, I was obviously shocked as a Canadian. And I'm not sure how seriously to take this. I think we're still trying to analyze it. The other part was obviously thinking more personally: If this is in my book, will people think that I just ripped it from the headlines and ripped it out and took advantage of this very damaging experience?
How seriously should we take this?
This is a really interesting question. I think it would be foolish to underestimate what he is capable of. I don't think there's a country that's been invaded, or a people that's been attacked, or a person that's been attacked that hasn't looked back and thought: What did I miss? Where was the moment when this could have been stopped? And I think we're in that moment right now.
And that's appropriate for all of us, and it's certainly appropriate for me because I'm 67 years old. I've been in a career for 20 years that has so far exceeded my expectations. If I don't stand up and put myself in a position where I can, I will be ashamed. I think it's time for those of us who can to stand up.
