Tuesday, March 18, 2025

I Regretfully Decline by Vicki Delaney

Jenn McKinlay: Most of you know I am a summertime Canadian. My family has had a cottage in Nova Scotia for forty years and my brother and I ran amuck on the shores of the Bay of Fundy as kids just as our four boys have done all their lives. To say that I have been UPSET by what the current administration is doing is putting it mildly. When our dear friend Vicki Delaney reached out and offered a post from the Canadian perspective - of course, I said yes. The librarian in me is a big believer that information is power. So here's Vicki to give us some insight from the North. 

Community note: Any nasty messages will be deleted. As lovers of books and the book community, we're all in this together. Conduct yourselves accordingly, please.

Hooligans on our beach in Scot's Bay with their Wowa.

Vicki Delaney: When I decided to try my hand at writing a book, about the last reason was in order to meet interesting people and make new friends.  Turns out that’s the best part of it. I include Jenn and the rest of the Reds in the friends I cherish. 


I am a Canadian, and in the 20 years since I became a full-time author, I’ve travelled to the United States many, many times. I love meeting readers and fellow authors. I love listening to their stories and talking books and brainstorming promotional efforts. Of the three major mystery conferences (Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic, and Bouchercon) I’ve gone to at least one every year, many years all of them. (COVID years excepted, naturally). I’ve been to smaller festivals and conferences, to libraries, to bookstores. I’ve done a signing in a bowling alley and one in a gym and have been a guest speaker at the Pennsylvania Tea Festival. I’ve toured with wonderful American authors many of whom I now consider good friends, and I’ve spent before and after event time enjoying a vacation. 
Is all that over? Possibly. I posted the following to my Facebook author page in February. 


With much regret I wrote to the Malice Domestic Board today to tell them I will shortly be cancelling my registration and hotel booking. As a proud Canadian, I can not in good conscience travel to the United States as long as the President continues to insult our Prime Minister and our country and is threatening Canadian sovereignty, either by destroying us economically, or invading militarily. I will miss getting together with my many American friends and readers. I hope, but do not expect, that the situation will change and we can meet again. 
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. (Trump: Most Canadians want to be 51st state. Peter Navarro: Canada has been taken over by Mexican cartels. Elon Musk: Canada is not a real county). 

We don’t for a minute believe, even if this comes to pass, we would be a “51st state.”  We wouldn’t be a state, with voting rights and government investment, but a colony, a vassal to be exploited for resources. 

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. 

The pretext Trump is using to impose tariffs on Canadian goods (in violation of a treaty he himself signed) is that supposedly Canada is allowing fentanyl to “pour’ across the border. That is an out and out lie. 

According to the 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, 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?)

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. 

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) has announced a 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to the US. 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.




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. 

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.  

Others have different opinions. Some say it’s important to engage Americans, and point out that despite propaganda from the US leader and members of his party and administration, the overwhelming number of Canadians are firmly against any take-over.  I’d argue in return, we have social media on which to present our case and a substantial number of my American friends approve of my choice to make this clear stand. 

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.)


JENN: I just bought a t-shirt with "Elbows Up" and a maple leaf. I support you, Canada, and will spend a boodle up North when I arrive in the summer (fingers crossed). Count on it!

Reds and Readers (many of whom are also Canadian), what questions do you have for Vicki about what's happening in Canada? She'll be popping in all day to discuss.


Vicki Delany is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than fifty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy.  She is currently writing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries, the Tea by the Sea books, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates). 


Vicki is a past chair of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival.  Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the CWC Awards of Excellence. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.  



73 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, Vicki . . . this whole mess upsets many of us, too . . . .

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  2. Thank you, Vicki. I live in upstate New York, an hour from the border, in a tourist town. Normally our roads are jammed with cars with Canadian license plates. We are hearing of many vacation cancellations and I imagine (and hope) the number will only increase. I support Canada's stand against the bullying of this administration 100%.

    All that being said, I realized, reading this post, that the Jungle Reds' usual prohibition of politics is a good idea. Not because I anticipate divisiveness over this gentle, educational message, but because I think many of us are readers who are only too tuned in to the national and international news. I myself receive emails from two national newspapers, one international paper, PBS, several magazines, and about 8 Substacks. I force myself to read the bad news every day. Five days a week I try to make six calls to my representatives. I am filled with sorrow and despair.

    Reading Jungle Reds is my respite from all that. I open the blog wondering what the subject will be today. Which of the Reds has finished a book? Who is struggling with edits? "Does Anyone Truly Organize their Junk Drawer"? "How Does Hank Actually Walk in Heels All Day"? To me Jungle Reds has become a necessary, brief morning refuge... Calgon, take me away. (Selden)

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    1. Thanks for your support. I totally understand about needing a respite from politics. I think my hope in this post is to reach readers who might not otherwise follow much of what is going on in the world, at least not internationally and explain our point of view. (I also wonder how Hank looks so glam all the time)

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    2. Vicki, thanks for your generous response. I read your post after a churning, sleepless night of anxiety for the world and would delete my comment if I could. My apologies. (Selden)

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    3. Selden, I appreciate your comment, and wonder about whether you should delete you comments. I daily hear in your voice the anxiety and frustration of the politics of this time. I am pleased that you show non-support of events by contacting who you can and at least being a reminder every day, that some people are really not happy. Thank you. Maybe tomorrow we can talk about good recipes for egg salad sandwiches - or maybe not. I forgot that 'your' eggs are expensive.

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    4. Wonder how Hank walks in heels too. Perhaps ballet training?

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  3. Thank you. I'm so very sorry. I live in Maine, where in the summertime on the beach, about 1/3 of the people I meet are Canadian. I completely understand your position and agree 100%. And I'm embarrassed and humiliated by this administrations behavior. And angry. Deeply angry.

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  4. Sister Canadian here. Well said, Vicki. These days, I wear my "Canada is Not For Sale" toque while watching the news...

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  5. I’m way down in Arkansas, but I’m horrified by what is happening. The cavalier attitude by our administration is insulting and frustrating and dangerous. I applaud the Canadian grassroot efforts.

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  6. While it is a bummer that you won't be coming to the US for book signings or conference appearances, it is certainly understandable why you are doing so. And there will be no negativity directed towards you or anyone else that travels this route. Beyond the "bummer" about the lack of chances to get books signed.

    This is the part where I would usually write something truthful yet negative about what you refer to as the regime but since those comments would get deleted, I'll just let everyone imagine what I'd be saying about all of those cowardly traitors. :D

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    1. I'm imagining. I have heard some antidotal evidence of Canadians being verbally harassed in MAGA states. Until I hear an in-person account I won't believe it.

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  7. VICKI: Fellow Canadian here. I fully support you and other Canadiathors such as Louise Penny who has also cancelled her upcoming U.S. book tour.

    As Fan GOH at last weekend's Denver Left Coast Crime, I definitely had mixed feelings about travelling to Colorado. But I am happy to say that I was showered withlove & apologies from the American attendees about how Canada is being bullied by the Trump administration.
    Part of my GOH speech was an inspirational rallying cry & plea to keep fighting for diverse voices, and protest against book bans, library budget cutbacks etc.

    But I am doing my part to show my anger about how Canadians are bring treated.
    I cancelled my trip to NOLA Bouchercon.

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    1. Geez, sorry for the typo. Canadian authors instead of Canadiathors!

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    2. Good for you for speaking up Grace. we all need to...

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    3. Congratulations Grace on being GOH. I'm sorry to have missed seeing you honoured. Hopefully we can see everyone at Bouchercon in Calgary in 2026.

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    4. GRACE: thank you for speaking up. I was sad to miss the LCC in Colorado this year.

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    5. From Celia: I salute you Grace, and my congratulations on your honor.

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  8. You know me as the French Canadian on the blog and I love you dearly Reds and Readers.
    I endorse what Vicki wrote and act consequently

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  9. Vicki, thank you for your honest assessment and your resolve. Countries aren't the only things targeted in this deranged set of maneuvers. I can hardly watch the local news. It is all deeply disturbing.

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  10. Thanks Vicki for your willingness to speak the truth. These are frightening times for us, and for the world.

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  11. Thank you so much for sharing this. 💔

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  12. As an American who wishes I wasn’t I fully support the Elbows Up movement and have been buying Canadian products when I can. Aldi has quite a few.

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  13. Bravo, Vicki. We're all (all the good ones) terrified down here, and none of us wants a 51st state. With your statement, you join many others who spoke out at Left Coast Crime for truth, for justice, for using our writing and our voices to support our fellow humans, especially the threatened marginalized ones. I was proud of my fellow authors, as I am of you, for speaking truth openly and publicly.

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    1. Thank you Edith. One of the reasons I debated cancelling all my trips was missing the support I knew I'd get from my fellow writers and readers.

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  14. Writing just to say to Vicki, "I get it." And we support you! I grew up 20 miles from the border, watching Canadian television, and welcoming Canadian visitors and shoppers all summer.I had relatives in 3 Canadian cities. Yes, I can sing "O Canada." It was played when Canadian tv turned off late at night. This doesn't make me less of a US citizen; it makes me a good neighbor, a decades long source of pride in both countries but meaningless words to the current bullies in Washington.

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    1. A Good Neighbour is a good thing to have. Thank you.

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  15. Thank you for your resolve on this horrific issue and situation. I also live in Maine. Canada has been my unofficial second home for my entire life. Our dearest family friends live in Quebec and we make frequent jaunts there for visits/skiing/escapes. I am horrified by ALL of this. I admire Canada’s response. I sure wish we had more of that reaction happening here with the rest of our so-called government. Now I need to find myself an “elbows up” shirt! Thank you to Jenn for bringing this post today. Sadly, many Americans do not understand the far-reaching effects this “situation” is having here and abroad (or do not care. It is sickening).

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  16. Waving from Toronto here.

    We're feeling sick and worried and betrayed. Also horrified on the part of all our American friends and relatives caught up in the maelstrom.

    Thanks, Vicki, for presenting it all as it is. And thanks, Jenn & the Jungle Reds, for making space for clarity.

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  17. Jenn, thank you for inviting Vicki to write a guest blog from the Canadian perspective. And thank you for making it clear that any negative comments will be deleted here. One of my professors has a family hime in Nova Scotia. His family always stayed there during the summers. He died several years ago and is now buried in NS.

    Vicki, even though I am not a Canadian, I fully endorse what you and other Canadian authors who have cancelled U.S., tours, Thank you for sharing your perspective as a Canadian. Lucy Worley cancelled plans to attend Malice Domestic in person. I think she is doing a Zoom from England instead.

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    1. I hadn't heard about Lucy Worley. Glad to hear it.

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  18. Thank you, Vicki. I am in Wisconsin, and have visited Canada many, many times over the years. I have wistfully looked up at the map, thinking of ways we might move there. I, and my friends here, are horrified by this despicable regime now at the helm here in the U.S. It does not speak for me. I am just so, so aggrieved by what is happening. I am happy to see Canada's firm response and leadership. Thank you for being clear and outspoken; please know I'm cheering you and others on from here.

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  19. Dear Canada, I'm sorry and ashamed.

    Thanks for sharing Vicki! I am pretty darn confident that the majority of Americans don't think Canada is our enemy, don't want a trade war with our dear neighbor, and especially don't want to annex Canada as the 51st state. Elbows up!

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  20. On a social media platform, someone asked to please NOT show a picture of whatshisface when posting about the latest news.

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  21. Thank you, Vicki. I think it's wonderful that you and many other Canadians are taking action by boycotting US goods. Anyone who takes action against Trump and his henchmen's policies has my respect and support, even if it causes American suffering. Trump hasn't even been in office two months, and already, people are starting to suffer--not just USAID recipients, Ukrainians, Latin Americans, and many more around the world, but also hundreds of thousands of Americans who are losing their jobs and will lose all kinds of federal support and assistance. Maybe our suffering will make us value democratic government more. God, I hope so. I also hope the Democratic Party will come up with a strong program we can vote FOR so we're not only voting against Trump.

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    1. Kim, you are so lucky to be living in Switzerland…..

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  22. Thank you for this post, Vicki…I support you and your fellow Canadians 100%. The things that are happening here (USA) are shameful and scary. As an American, I am embarrassed and appalled.

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  23. My husband has applied for Canadian citizenship due to a Canadian law that allows children whose parent(s) were born in Canada. We have been waiting for many years -- so fingers crossed.
    I am beyond furious at what our President is doing but even madder at the rest of those who are allowing it.
    Vicki, thank you for your words - well said and "Elbows Up!"

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  24. This makes me so sad. Thank you, Vicki, for speaking up. Hopefully this madness will be behind us soon.

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  25. Vicky
    As a fellow Canadian I thank you for sharing your comments with the Reds and Readers group. It is unnerving to watch this situation unfold. I have always enjoyed my visits to the U.S. over the years and have met so many wonderful, welcoming people.
    Thank you Reds for ensuring this site does not become a political forum.
    Dianne Mahoney
    I

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  26. At this point, I don't see how any place of refuge--even this blog--can be free of what's happening in America. I am horrified by the dismantling of our democracy and treatment of our friends and allies. Every day I ask myself, what more can I do?? Elbows up, indeed, Vicki, Danielle, Grace, Amanda, Susan D, and all Canadians!

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  27. Vicki, thank you for sharing your perspective and for your thoughtful approach to such a difficult situation. It’s painful to see these tensions, but I admire your resolve. Wishing you and all our Canadian friends strength and solidarity. Elbows up!

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  28. Current Texan here.. I am devastated with the state of our country and what it is doing to other countries as well. No one sane wants to fight our neighbors! We stand with you!

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  29. your words make so much sense, and this is so very well written – (no surprise)
    as an American citizen, living in Massachusetts in the summer, and now Florida in the winter, we have many friends /fellow property owners here in Florida from the province of Quebec, the Maritimes, and Ontario. It breaks my heart to see so many of them fearful of returning next year since they are unsure of what restrictions might be placed. Many have placed their properties up for sale, and if that goes through, we will be losing our travel adventures. We travel to Ontario in the summer to visit friends – and by the way, have visited Prince edward county and it is BEAUTIFUL-
    and I find myself in Canadian, grocery stores and other stores buying things there that we do not have in the states, and loving it. What the current administration is doing to our friends to the north, and to so many other countries, is disgusting, nauseating, and just plain wrong. I still can’t believe there are so many followers that believe his vitriolic words.
    I have to find this T-shirt – I already have one that says Gulf of Mexico, and will add “elbows up” to my collection! 🇨🇦❤️

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    1. You're always welcome in Prince Edward County!

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    2. I want that elbows up T shirt too….

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  30. You are speaking to the choir here, Vicki. Please know the I (any most likely everyone who reads this blog) stand with Canada. I also stand with America, but the America I stand with is one based on our principles of liberty, justice, and friendship and not the principles (if I can use that word) of the megalomaniac who conned his way into the highest office in this land. His oath was to preserve and defend our Constitution and he has been doing anything but. His time will pass, most likely sooner than later. In the meantime, don't let the pissants get you down.

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  31. Canadian from the west coast: great summary Vicki. Thank-you. Sadly, I'm also cancelling my Bouchercon plans. Though I was so looking forward to visiting New Orleans for the first time and I love Bouchercon, I just can't.

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    1. Hopefully we can all meet up at Bouchercon in Calgary in 2026.

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    2. If it is still safe to fly out of the US. Not sure if plane and train travel will be safe during these chaotic years.

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  32. Good for you Vicki. I also sent a message of support to Louise Penny for her cancellation. Nothing will change if we go along with this madness. I support fully any and all boycotts of the US and our products by any and all Canadians and hope that others around the world will do the same.

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  33. bravo to you and all Canadians who are taking a stand and walking the talk! thanks for this and for explaining 'elbows up'!

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  34. From Celia: There can be nothing harder than to live in the orbit of a bully. Bearing Jenn's stricture in mind I am curbing my tongue but say with spirit, "Elbows Up Everyone". As we found during 2020, we stay strong with all sorts of different communications. In fact our communities came out stronger. So I'm off to put Elbows Up on my social media and learn the words to Oh Canada 🍁 I know the tune. And Cheers to all my JRW sisters and brothers.

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    1. Thank you for our support. It means a lot to us

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  35. Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts Vicki! My husband and I moved to Maine 2 1/2 years ago. We live in a town the swells with visitors every summer....many of them from Canada. We are preparing to feel the COMPLETELY appropriate fight back from Canadians who will not be coming here during those warm months. I am sick at what is happening...and out of my mind concerned for my adult children and what their futures will be. Never did I think I would be applauded (read: standing up and cheering) as other countries make economic moves against the United States...but here we are. And a shout out to this writing community...it warms my heart and soul to be surrounded by like-minded kind souls.

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  36. Vicki, like all the others above, I too stand with Canada and am appalled and embarrassed by someone who supposedly represents my country. Last night I was even thinking about the idea of moving to Canada, but at this stage of my life it just doesn't make sense. So, in spirit at least, I am Canadian!

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  37. Well said, Vicki. As a Canadian author, I chose not to go to Left Coast Crime although I really wanted to cheer Grace Koshida on and reconnect with friends as well as see beautiful Colorado. This nonsense has galvanized and united Canadians as never before.

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    1. Anonymous, I planned to go to Left Coast Crime until all of these plane crashes and the chaos with FAA and air traffic controllers happened. I am relieved that everyone who went to Colorado for the LCC made it safely there and made it safely back home.

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  38. Lesa Holstine here - Vicki, I totally agree with your decision. It was my honor to host you and Robin Harlick, Louise Penny, and other Canadian authors at one time at the library. With the mess here in the U. S., and the state of libraries, I don’t blame any of you for your wise decisions. We just hope our country can change again that you’ll feel welcome and safe again some day. I hate all this.

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    1. Thanks, Lesa. I remember those visits to the Glendale Library very fondly.

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  39. I hope this isn't a duplicate - as I posted earlier but it didn't show up.
    My husband is applying for Canadian citizenship due to a Canadian law that allows US children born to Canadian parents. There are qualifications like date of birth year(s) etc.
    I am horrified at what is happening in this country. It's just beyond belief. But the worst part is that so many of in congress are backing him and allowing this to continue. It's beyond belief.

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  40. There was a mystery author, Colleen Shogan, who was also the National Archivist and she was fired from her job. I saw a news story about her job at the National Archives. It is really hard to avoid politics these days. Though JRW is a lovely respite from politics, I still feel that way even though we ventured into politics today. I cannot put my finger on why. Perhaps because we all are civilized here and we know we are safe here. We know that if there is any negative comments, then these comments will be removed.

    Vicki, thank you for explaining. Jenn, thank you.

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  41. I am so sorry this has come about. I'm appalled by what DT has done to good relations with friends and allies and how he has aligned the country with reprehensible leaders. You are not the only one making this decision. Louise Penny posted a similar position. My husband and I are American citizens, though we moved to Portugal four years ago, and we are deeply concerned by all that is happening. We also have Canadian friends who are like family and with whom we Skype regularly, and they are in the same mindset as you. You are doing the right thing. You are in a position to have influence and therefore to educate others by your actions. Thank you for standing up for integrity and important values.

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  42. I am so sorry! It is truly shameful that this has come about. I will continue to read your books and enjoy each one!

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