U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that Canada should become the 51st state are no longer a joke and are meant to undermine America’s closest ally, Canada’s finance minister said Wednesday.Dominic LeBlanc,

Both the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812 featured U.S. ambitions for Canadian annexation. Such talk rose again following the Civil War five decades later—a threat so grave that it motivated Canada’s political leadership to incorporate as a new country,

Justin Trudeau has announced he will step down after nine years as Canadian prime minister in the face of a mounting set of crises, but stay in office until a replacement party leader is chosen.

Trudeau announced his resignation after facing an increasing loss of support from both within his party and in the country.