Canadian investor and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said Thursday that he wants to help broker a deal with President-elect Donald Trump that would create some sort of “economic union” between the US and Canada – declaring that at least half of his countrymen would support such a merger. 

O’Leary’s interest in unifying the US and Canada comes after Trump, 78, has repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that Canada should become “our 51st State.” 

“Canadians over the holidays – the last two days –  have been talking about this,” O’Leary said of Trump’s proposal, during an interview with Fox Business. “They want to hear more.”The Montreal-born businessman acknowledged “there’s obviously a lot of issues” that would arise if Canada attempted to join the US but said Trump’s interest in the matter “could be the beginning of an economic union.” 

“Think about the power of combining the two economies, erasing the border between Canada and the United States and putting all that resource up to the northern borders where China and Russia are knocking on the door,” O’Leary continued.