President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday commissioning the immediate construction of a continuous concrete barrier along the entire 8,891-kilometre US-Canada border, declaring that Canada «will not be permitted to physically reach Europe» after the EU floated making it an associate member.
«We are building a wall so big that Canada will have to tunnel under the Atlantic if it wants to talk to Brussels,» Trump told a press conference in North Carolina. «They will not be an associate member of anything. I have already ordered the concrete. It is tremendous concrete.»
The White House confirmed that the project will require 340 million cubic metres of concrete and will be staffed by a new federal agency, the Canada Containment Administration, which began hiring 90,000 workers on Thursday. Canadian officials were informed that existing border crossings will be replaced by a single gate near Emerson, Manitoba, which will open for fifteen minutes on the first Tuesday of each month.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by announcing that Canada will build its own 8,891-kilometre wall on the other side of the border, creating what he called «the world's longest double-walled corridor, perfect for a very long bicycle path.» EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the associate membership offer remains open and that Brussels is «prepared to negotiate through the wall, over the wall, or by carrier pigeon.»
By Friday, the first 400 metres of the US wall had been poured near Blaine, Washington, and a ceremonial first brick was laid by the President himself, who described the structure as «the most beautiful wall ever built, and Canada will pay for it in maple syrup.»