Jay Collins suggests ‘the Canadian way’ is not to fight back during home invasion

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 5/1/25-Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, talks about CS/CS/HB 987 on Thursday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Florida’s Lieutenant Governor believes that one key difference between Americans and our neighbors to the north is that we are far more likely to defend our homes than are Canadians.

“When criminals kick in your door, the last thing we should do is ‘comply.’ That might be the Canadian way, but not here in America. In this country, we have the God-given right to defend our families, our homes, and our lives,” Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said.

Whether God or some other deity is ultimately responsible, Florida does indeed have “stand your ground” enshrined in statute.

Collins, a former state Senator from Tampa who was recently appointed to serve as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ second-in-command, was reacting to a tweet from the “Breaking 911” social media account that showcased a “Canadian Police Chief” urging people to try not to get killed by people breaking in.

“If you ever find yourself the victim of a home invasion, we are urging citizens not to take matters into your own hands … Don’t engage … The best defense is to comply,” reads the quote excerpted by the website.

Context: The chief was discussing an Ontario father who attempted to resist a home invasion with force and was summarily gunned down in front of his family in a failed attempt to thwart a robbery.

Collins’ dismissal of Canadian bravery even after a man was shot and killed for trying to defend his home comes at an interesting time for the DeSantis administration, given heightened tensions between the United States and its erstwhile ally since Donald Trump became President.

Canadian tourism, which DeSantis envisions as a revenue source that could make up for money lost if the state eliminates homestead property taxes, has been collateral damage amid the war of words between Ottawa and Washington.

According to VISIT FLORIDA, 640,000 Canadians came to the state during the second quarter of 2025. That compares to 739,000 during the same period last year, and seems to undercut the Governor’s boast that numbers haven’t fallen off.

“They said that the Canadians were going to stop coming to Florida. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s true, because who would want to be in Canada in the winter or spring when you could be in Florida? Like, if you can get here, you want to get here.’ And so we have the numbers,” DeSantis said during the 2025 Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism last month.

Clearly, they don’t want to get here in the same numbers they did last year.

DeSantis has argued for some months that Canadians specifically should shoulder the burden for Florida’s governmental costs.

“I want Canadian tourists and Brazilian tourists subsidizing the state and making it so Florida residents pay less taxes. I don’t want to give Canadians a tax cut,” DeSantis said in March of this year.

It remains to be seen if the LG saying they don’t defend their homes against attack will reverse that trend.