UPDATE 1-Trudeau sees no flood of Americans to Canada if Trump wins

(Releads with Trudeau comments on Trump)
By David Ljunggren
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau on Friday joked that he is not expecting an
influx of unhappy Americans across the border if firebrand
Republican Donald Trump becomes president.
As Trump's popularity builds in the race for the Republican
presidential nomination, Internet search providers have noted a
spike in queries from Americans about moving to Canada.
Trudeau told students on the third day of an official visit
to the United States, however, that the idea of emigration by
voters who feared ending up on the losing side was common during
U.S. election campaigns.
"If over the past decades that had been the case, we'd have
more people in Canada than in the United States ... It becomes
an easy thing to cry out," he said during a discussion at
Washington's American University. Canada's population is just
over a tenth the size of that of the United States.
Trudeau said Canadians and Americans continually crossed the
border to live in the other country.
"That's just the nature of our friendship and relationship
and to link it too much to politics is humorous ... There will
always be flows back and forth and one must never fret or be
disappointed with that," he said.
Migration data from after Republican George W. Bush's 2000
election and 2004 re-election - other times when some liberal
Americans pledged to move to Canada in protest - suggests few
followed up on their promise.
Trudeau, whose Liberals took power in Canada last November,
had previously largely avoided questions about the consequences
of a Trump victory, saying he will work with whomever wins.
Earlier this week he said he would neither fight Trump nor
support him but understood his appeal for people fed up with
politics.
Trudeau made his comments a day after talks at the White
House that set the seal on better ties with the United States.
Trudeau and President Barack Obama agreed joint steps to combat
climate change and make it easier for people and goods to flow
back and forth across their countries' long border.
Trump has in the past mused about tearing up the North
American Free Trade Agreement, which could cripple the Canadian
economy.
Keeping good relations with the United States is critical
for Canada, which sends 75 percent of its exports to its
southern neighbor.