At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if the U.S. is an ally or adversary of Canada, what matters is bolstering Canadian sovereignty. 

That seems to be the takeaway of the debate held by the University of B.C. Okanagan at the 琉璃神社 Community Theatre on April 22. 

Ahead of opening remarks from the debaters, the audience was asked to pull out their phones and answer the online survey question on which direction they lean. More than 70 per cent of the audience of over 200 people said they believe the U.S. is an adversary.

Crowd cheers leaned toward the support of adversary debaters Jen Gerson, co-founder of The Line, and Renaud-Philippe Garner, an assistant professor in philosophy at UBCO. 

Although arguing for different sides, Gerson and Garner found themselves agreeing with their opponents Greg Anderson, a political science professor at the University of Alberta, and Laura Dawson, executive director for Future Borders Coalition.

On the ally's side debates surrounding the rift in the Canada-U.S. relations are just a "blip" and cannot be defined by a single person or government in the White House. It was added that Canada's neighbours to the south are looking for the Great White North to stand on its own and this provides an opportunity for our country to get its affairs in order. 

On the adversary side, it was argued that good neighbours don't act in bad faith and that the U.S. is overestimating its strength against the rest of the world. 

Gerson was the most well-received by the audience. She argued that even if President Donald Trump is a "blip" in the relationship, it's not something Canada can plan around as the people who voted for him and his visions still exist. 

Overall, the two sides agreed that the future must and will be different. The takeaway from the debate appeared to be that Canada needs to look to other world partners, as well as internally at inter-provincial trade and agreements, and not let America back our country into a corner. 

To conclude the debate, the audience was asked what they garnered from the discussion. With over 240 responses, more than 40 per cent of the crowd agreed that this is Canada's time to shine and step up as a leader on the world stage. 

The debate on the Canada-U.S. relationship was the fifth in the UBC Okanagan Debates series.