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Not to rain on anyone's fantasy parade, but the US would not invade Canada for imperialistic purposes. In all of our history of militaristic adventures we have only asked for enough land to bury our dead.
The real reason to have a serious military is that without it you get no diplomatic sway on the world scale. Against Iraq? Who the fuck cares? Canada can't actually oppose it with force and can't actually assist it with force. With a show military the only sway it has with the world is for show. So Canada can't get all mad when the US goes ignoring its opinion in matters.
Canada will never be invaded because it is against the interests of the US. For practical purposes it really doesn't matter if the military is for show. To claim you need a military to avoid being invaded by the US is ungracious.
Similarly, since half of all medical costs are borne in one's last year of life, and since aging Canadians move to Florida and Arizona in droves... without the US, the Canadian health system would fail, utterly and obviously. The fact that it's failing slowly, even with the US acting as a safety valve, should be troubling evidence to those trying to figure out how medical expenses can be shouldered by government.
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