wo decades ago, I wrote: “Sometime, not too long ago, while no one was watching, Canada became the world’s most successful country.”
The culture of accommodation that we evolved more than a century and a half ago as a way for the French and English populations to co-exist had proved to be ideally suited, I believed, to bringing millions of people from all parts of the world to this country, where they lived, worked and played together in harmony.
“Canadians have used politeness to foment a social revolution,” I said. “And from that revolution, our Canada has emerged – young, creative, polyglot, open-minded, forward-looking, fabulous.”
I’m not sure that’s still true.
...
Canada’s aging society has placed a serious burden on the young. Many of them lack income security and can’t afford to buy or even rent their own place. They’re angry, and who can blame them?
For more than three decades, the public
health care system has been flashing red, but no one had the will or means to address emerging shortages. Today, there aren’t enough doctors, nurses, support workers, acute-care beds, long-term-care beds – you name it.
The federal Liberal government sought to address labour shortages and increase the population by bringing in more permanent residents, temporary foreign workers and students. But the system spiralled out of control, undermining public support for open
immigration.
Western anger at an intrusive federal government dominated by central Canadian political elites is even greater today than it was thirty and forty years ago. Governments in
Alberta and Saskatchewan speak openly of sovereignty for their provinces within Confederation. Meanwhile, the separatist Parti Québécois is favoured, according to polls, to win the next Quebec election.
Multicultural tolerance has eroded. Islamic worshipers and families have been the target of deadly violence, while hate crimes against Jews have skyrocketed. Foreign governments foment division within various communities and within Canadian society.
We have surrendered some of our most precious public spaces – sidewalks and parks and neighbourhoods – to troubled people struggling with homelessness and dependence.
The Western alliance in which Canada is imbedded appears to be in decline. Russia has brazenly invaded Ukraine, China rattles its formidable sabres and the United States, this country’s closest ally, is acting more like an antagonist, as president-elect Donald Trump threatens Canada with
crippling tariffs and derisively refers to us as a 51st state.
Finally, efforts to confront systemic discrimination against women, against sexual and gender minorities, against racial minorities and Indigenous peoples, against those with physical and mental challenges have devolved into screeds that question the very legitimacy of Canada itself, condemning the country as a society of racist, oppressive colonizers.
