Canadian leaders say Trump’s talk about Canada becoming the 51st state isn’t funny anymore

By ROB GILLIES

TORONTO (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that Canada should become the 51st state are no longer a joke and are meant to undermine America’s closest ally, Canada’s finance minister said Wednesday.

Dominic LeBlanc, the country’s point person for U.S-Canada relations, said Trump was smiling when he first made the comment during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in late November.

“The joke is over,” said LeBlanc. “It’s a way for him...