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Say some wayward John Birch loser reads(maybe in his local library's collection of old Toronto Suns) about Trudeau having praised Communist China in the 50s, given refuge to American draft dodgers during Vietnam, and yelled Viva Castro in Havana. Hoping to be canonized as some big hero in the War Against Communism, the Bircher then proceeds to travel north and put a lethal bullet into Trudeau.

Let's also say that this happens some time between Feburary of '76 and January of 1977, ie. after PET yelled Viva Castro, but during a period when there is still a Republican, Nixon-identified occupant in the White House.

What effect does this have on public opinion in Canada? Does it lead to a redoubled wave of the recent war-stoked anti-Americanism? Or do Canadians just think "Ah, it's just one guy, hardly representative of the entire USA"?

And are pro-American conservatives, both inside and outside the Tory party, villified for their association with the ideology that inspired the killer? Does Peter Worthington have to hire bodyguards?

Finally, if it does have an impact, is it something that is remembered for decades to come, the way old-style Canadian nationalists remembered the War Of 1812 well into the 20th Century? Or just kind of a blip, albeit a pretty shocking one, on the historical radar?
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