For consideration__a conjecturation en cheek:

Here in the states there is a movement that rears it's pointy little head every few years. It is referred to as the secessionist movement. It usually gathers around Texas but there are other locales that embrace the idea [Arizona has a group as do other locales__the SW seems rife but not entirely exclusive].

Now most of us scoff at these folks. Make jokes at their expense. Treat them as though they are a few bricks shy. But really they are sincere in their desire to secede from our Union__really they are. So my proposition is this:

Give them Detroit.

*waits patiently for the furor to die down*  I know, I have friends in Detroit, too. They wouldn't find this at all a viable solution but...

Detroit is a dying metropolis. Sad but true. An American wasteland. A place where once prosperity reigned and now urban decay and downfall bloom. What can be done? Many things have been tried. Many things have failed. Miserably.

So__

Take all the malcontents who wish to carve themselves a place away from the mainland [w/o actually leaving] and give them a place that needs to be... rejuvenated...at the expense of those who are no longer interested in being contributing members of our society. It is, after all, a border city, just not one that will require a fence [unlike the area where they are now]. Plus one for the new owners. I don't see the Canadians inundating New Detroit. They won't have to squabble about immigration reform. They will have water. This is not something they have easy access to where most of them are now [the American SW being just a touch thirsty]. There may be some reconstruction needed, but  hey, it means they can build as they wish w/o all that pesky government intervention. It's a win/win.

All we have to do is convince the current residents of Detroit that they really want to move. Maybe to a cattle ranch in Texas? A condo in Scottsdale?