Our Viewpoint

If you’ve watched the news recently, you’ve probably heard of the ridiculous petition circulating online that has a creative solution to the U.S. national debt. The petition at Change.org suggests the U.S. sell Montana to Canada for $1 trillion. 

As of Tuesday, the petition, created by Ian Hammond, had nearly 17,000 signatures. The goal is 25,000. “We have too much debt and Montana is useless. Just tell them it has beavers or something,” Hammond wrote. Many Montanans commenting at Change.org supported the petition.

The state Legislature is getting involved as well. Rep. Forrest Mandeville of Columbus brought a bill before the House State Administration Committee to oppose the sale of Montana to Canada. The bill failed, but it was all in good fun, and we’re pretty sure the state government doesn’t like the idea of switching countries. In his presentation to the committee, Mandeville suggested the resolution could include statements such as “whereas we don’t know the Canadian national anthem after the first two words.” We agree, and we wonder how many people were like us and had to go look up the lyrics. President Trump has yet to comment on the proposal.

Seriously, though, there are better options to eliminate the national debt. According to the Montana State Library, Montana’s economy has a history of outperforming the national economy. We are number eight in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and the state has the fifth-fastest wage growth in both the 5-year and 10-year periods. Our economy is performing well. And we can’t imagine the U.S. giving up Glacier National Park and the home of Evel Knieval.

It’s an interesting concept. One we don’t support. We’re happy here in the U.S. But the state tourism board could use this scheme for some great marketing campaigns, such as “Montana – Come visit without a passport while you still can.”