Brace yourself, Canada. Right now, anything is possible on the political front. And we should prepare for anything, especially big things the likes of which which we have not experienced in quite some time.
For months, the nation played the guessing game about when and if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would announce the timing of his resignation. It was discussed as if it was the most momentous occasion imaginable. And in some ways it was. After all, the resignation of a sitting PM is a big deal.
But Trudeau’s looming resignation was also portrayed as if once that matter was settled, all else would be settled—that the political shift upon us was the resignation of the prime minister and the selection of his replacement and then all would return to calm.
Not so. There’s a palpable sense of flux out there right now. Trudeau’s resignation may prove to be the first in a series of big events as opposed to the last.
The main ongoing example is the incredible drama that has come out of Canada–United States relations in recent months. First, there was the threat of tariffs from President Donald Trump, and although he didn’t impose them on his first day in office, he said they may come on Feb. 1. Regardless of whether the tariffs materialize, the threat itself has caused significant disruption, leading to infighting among federal cabinet members and conflicting responses from Canada’s premiers.
But that was just the opening act to Trump’s taunts about absorbing Canada into the United States and making us the 51st state. The remarks were initially taken as a joke, but as they persisted, people began to take it seriously. All around the boardroom and the kitchen table, Canadians discussed whether or not they’d want to become a part of our neighbour to the south and what it would entail.
We haven’t had that sort of big-picture conversation about the future of our nation in quite some time. Whatever one thinks of the actual policy proposition, the exercise itself is a healthy one. The need to respond to a big idea makes you more open to the possibility of other big ideas, whatever the idea might be. Once people feel free to start spitballing on something that seemed too out-of-the-box a few months ago, they’ll start talking about other things as well.
Canadian politics has been small and quaint for too long. The window of policy ideas we discuss is narrow. The platforms that political parties campaign on tend to be about tinkering around the edges—moving this or that tax rate a little bit up or down, say—as opposed to wholesale change.
But if we don’t want to become the 51st state, we need to up our game. The only reason Trump can even speak loosely about such a move is that it’s quite obvious Canada is an underperforming asset due to our lack of energy and vision.
We are one of the largest countries geographically with a wealth of natural resources, and yet we don’t take our economic growth, national security, or national identity seriously. To use business terms again, we are a poorly managed asset that could easily be turned around with the right people and approach, but because we don’t do this, we are vulnerable to a hostile takeover where we are picked up for 10 cents on the dollar. Use it or lose it.
It wouldn’t take that much to properly use it either, we just need to get on with it. If we send our resources to market, strengthen our borders (especially the Arctic, which is vulnerable to incursion by Russia and China), and develop a sense of national pride such that people feel this is a country worth fighting for, we can start firing on all cylinders. Then there’d be no talk of taking us over.
That our institutions, both public and private, gladly let themselves become captives to the “woke” agenda made us an even smaller nation. The agenda was a distraction that saw us focused on petty infighting and divisiveness as opposed to unity and prosperity for the benefit of all.
Likewise, how we became captive to anti-growth climate zealotry. It contributed to our smallness.
Trump is determined to make his second term a historic one in terms of what he accomplishes. The White House administration appears ready to move fast and decisively to accomplish its objectives.
Canada can choose to take a back seat and passively watch as the parade passes us by. Instead, let’s get in the game and do big things ourselves.
