Columnists
A whole new Canada
There was a time in this fair land when we had a different Canada. You don’t need to go back very far in our history to see a country of resentment, between the provinces and to our central government in particular.
Easy to sort out. First: Everyone hated Ontario. On a political scale, easy to do. Ontario always lorded it over the other provinces because we had the most population, and a load of manufacturing factories, and the accompanying load of money. Grrr.
Quebec, at one time, wanted to separate from Canada, and the movement took on quite a following. The logistics of such a move were a problem. Who would they join? The U.S.? Wow, dodged the bullet on that one!
Still, Canada made some appeasement gestures, like declaring us bilingual (like most County Folk who had Mrs. Holt as their French teacher, and now can note “Alors! Il pleut!” when it’s raining, and “Dondes est los banos.” Sorry Spanish is way easier to learn than French).
So we got French on everything. Bilingual signs no-one reads or obeys, even the English part. We do that too, so we had that in common. I spent my youth reading French from cereal boxes, so I’m fluent in Cereal French. As a matter of pride, I didn’t even turn the box around to translate.
Now Quebeckers come to the County, and are very polite. Even unilingual French, who come to my shop for directions, which involve a lot of hand-waving and map notes, are here for the fun. And we get them there.
AROUND THE COUNTRY
So that leaves the Other Provinces, who have their own resentments.
[I should point out: Do not refer to the prairie provinces as the Prairie Provinces. They are proud of their individual cultures. Ditto with the Maritime Provinces, which have identities of their own which they protect diligently.]
This draws the point that Canadian people have always been different, from coat to coast. I believe this makes us stronger. Hell, if I want a vacation I don’t choose a place which looks and acts like Ontario. What would be the point in that? So, the Prairies and the Maritimes aside, that leaves Alberta and B.C. Yes, they hated us too.
Alberta fought back because they had oil, and that was pretty much an Ace card as far as money generation goes. [Quebec had Hydro which was also infinitely marketable.]
B.C. is a totally different beast. They have a ‘west coast mentality’ which is basically: Leave us alone. Vancouver is far from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and the distance between is like a cousin you haven’t called in 40 years. They run their own game. Politically, they’re all over the map, and will elect any party that is not the current party in power. It’s just a thing.
I visited my cousin in Nanaimo, and his brother in Comox. Good people, but they did not know the name of the Canadian Prime Minster of the time. They both just shrugged: “What they do has nothing to do with us.”
My Ontario brain was upset, but they weren’t wrong. This is the country we created, based on what means the most to us, in our particular home provinces. Not unlike the County.
When you look at the Northern Territories [Which probably resent being lumped together as such] you will likely find the same thing.
TO RECAP
Not that long ago, Canada was kind of like a family, who agreed to disagree, and sometimes hugged it out in the end. We squabble over who has the most population, who does the most manufacturing, who has the oil, who has the hydro, and the everpresent language issues.
The provinces all looked each other, and wondered who got the best share of the federal money which was doled out to its provincial children.
Note that the famous/infamous Sir John was a believer in centralized government, which created Papa gov, Mother gov and Baby gov. Downloading happened as federal funds were cut, which is why Baby gov has a busted-up Highway 49.]
SO WHAT CHANGED?
They say that nothing brings people together like facing a common enemy. This is best displayed in the film Independence Day, in which aliens attack and all the nations on earth rally together to defeat them. Of course America leads this fight, because they have Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, so how can you lose? Plus they have stirring words about peace on earth delivered by their President, who insists on jumping in a fighter jet to take part.
I mention this because none of this actually happened. And certainly not now. America living in a dream world is probably true, but today … the attack is from our closest neighbour. And the rallying cry went out to us.
CANADA PROUD AND FREE
The U.S. is now run by a lunatic. Lunatics don’t know they’re crazy until the bell tolls. And they find their own country destroyed.
Meanwhile, Canadians took arms in such a Canadian way it makes me proud. Flag sales went through the roof. We, the people, checked the labels at every store and refused to buy U.S. produce and products. Did it make a difference? Hell yeah. Billions of lost dollars to the American economy. Canadians cancelled their annual U.S. vacations, which cost another few billions to the U.S. tourist industry.
Prime Minister Carney has an uncanny sense of predicting events, probably due to his background in economics and negotiation. He is the right man for the job. We now find out that backroom tactics have steered us away from the States. Deals have been made with Japan, Germany, the E.U and Indonesia … filling the void left by the U.S. When Trump left the G7 conference, Carney had the opportunity to get signed deals for genuine trade agreements, and he did exactly that.
As he said, the decades of mutual trust and mutual trade with the U.S. was over. Trump somehow does not realize that he was the catalyst in a new global trade economy. Every country he burned with his up-and-down tariffs looked for an alternative.
And Canada was it. The world liked our culture, and our attention to environmental concerns, and that we’re so damn friendly … and, of course, trust. That’s a big one, having just been betrayed by a major trading partner.
Making America Great Again is a joke. Trump has backed himself into an isolationist corner. His tariff plan does not work, and has rarely worked in the history of the country. Jobs are being cut. People are out of work. It’s only a matter of time before ‘Great’ becomes ‘Collapse’.
Trump announced today there will be no further trade negotiations with Canada. Little did he know what he was up against. Canada moved on months ago, and is now taking the stage as the new, trustworthy, trading partner for the rest of the world.
Comments (0)