National Perspective: Amidst viral threat, Canada looks askance at U.S.

MONTREAL — Chalk up another victim to the coronavirus that has swept across the globe: the decades-old amity that tied Canada to the United States in cross-border marriages and commercial relationships, that deepened during World War II, that took the form of three landmark 20th-century free-trade agreements, and that burst into full flower when Canada welcomed American jetliners and their passengers to Newfoundland after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

These new tensions — flaring now that fear of COVID-19 has gone viral — have swept away the welcome mat that Americans for generations have crossed to enter Canada for vacations, family visits and business. They are a fresh example of the diminishment of American influence in the first quarter of the 21st century.