Bourbon is out, patriotism is in - How Canadians are facing Trump threats head on

Bourbon is out, patriotism is in - How Canadians are facing Trump threats head onNot long after the US imposed their tariffs on Canada, a local neighbourhood pub in Toronto began removing all American products off their menuThat means nachos, wings - and of course, beer - must all be made now with local Canadian ingredients, or wherever not possible, non-US products from Europe or Mexico.

For Leah Russell, manager at Toronto's Madison Avenue pub, the boycott was a no-brainer. She adds that it is "pretty set in stone," even if the tariffs themselves are not.I'm glad that we're getting rid of American products and supporting local businesses," Ms Russell told the BBC on Thursday. "I think it's an important thing to do."This defiant stance in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats against Canada has been unfolding across the northern country, even as it braces for economic blowback that it could ultimately do little to avoid in the event of a full-blown trade war.Just ask actor Jeff Douglas, once the face of Molson Canadian Beer's "I Am Canadian" advertisements, who has filmed and posted a light-hearted, but deeply-patriotic video on Youtube this week addressing Trump's "51st state" rhetoric.

"We're not the 51st anything," declares Mr Douglas in the video, which has since gone viral in Canada.Some of the backlash has been more symbolic, like one Montreal café changing the Americano on their menu to a "Canadiano" - a small gesture that the owners say is meant to display unity and support for their community and country.

Even the CBC, the country's public broadcaster, is feeling the full force of this wave of patriotism, after it dared run a programme asking Canadians what they think about Canada becoming "the 51st state", as Trump has suggested many times.The show sparked intense backlash and accusations of "treason," "sedition" and even "betrayal".Although Trump has since lifted some of the tariffs imposed this week and put others on pause until 2 April, many Canadians say the damage has already been done.

After Thursday's reversal, foreign minister Melanie Joly told CNN that Canada has been shown "too much disrespect by the Trump administration at this point, calling us a 51st state, calling our prime minister 'governor.'"Meanwhile, Doug Ford, who is the leader of Canada's most populous province, did not back down from his plan to slap export tariffs on electricity that Canada supplies some US states. The 25% surcharge will affect up to 1.5 million American homes.

"I feel terrible for the American people because it's not the American people, and it's not even elected officials, it's one person," he told a local radio show on Thursday in reference to Trump."He's coming after his closest friends, closest allies in the world and it's going to absolutely devastate both economies," Ford said.Canadians support their country's reciprocal actions, saying they should remain in place until US tariffs are completely off the table.