Former President Calvin Coolidge had Canada on his mind on this date in 1931. Out of the White House he famous wrote a newspaper column, Calvin Coolidge Says, that was carried in papers across the U.S. His March 14, 1931 column was full of praise for America’s northern neighbour.

“One development after another emphasizes the growing self-sufficiency of Canada,” Coolidge wrote. “At the opening of Parliament, when the Acting Chief Justice, Lyman P. Duff, represented King George in the absence of the new Governor General, the Earl of Bessborough, the speech from the throne was delivered for the first time by a Canadian.

The spectacle must have touched the pride of the people of the flourishing and resourceful Dominion. It was a recognition of their increasing importance in the empire. A proposal has been made to have a Governor General who is a Canadian citizen. No doubt that will come. It would be natural for a country of ten millions of people with a per capita wealth above that of the United States to supply its own contact with the crown.”

“Politically Canada looks to England,” Coolidge continued. “Economically she looks to us. We have invested there about one-ninth of her national wealth, while England has about one-fourteenth. Her trade with us is three times larger than her trade with the United Kingdom. Her own foreign investments are large. She has financial interests all over the Western Hemisphere. Because we represent the same economic aims, we rejoice in the success of Canada.”