This is a week with serious consequences that Canada has just gone through. The kind that leaves marks. Resignation of a sitting prime minister, crisis in the ruling party, all while our neighbor threatens to put Canada into recession or even annex it.
Justin Trudeau clung to power for so long that his forced departure ended up occurring in a context of crisis. Nothing irreparable has hit Canada yet, but the rate of economic and political uncertainty is simply stratospheric.
Contempt for Trump
This crisis is existential for Canada. Because with this obsession with 51e An American state, the very existence of Canada as we know it is being called into question by Donald Trump. It would remove Canada from the list of countries.
Whether he is serious in his intentions or not, the one who will lead the most powerful country in a few days expresses his contempt for Canada. In his eyes, Canada contributes nothing to the world, has no reason to exist as a distinct country. To my knowledge, this is the first time since 1867 that an important leader has called into question the existence of Canada in this way.
The worst part is that Canada is being royally robbed at a time when it is in a position of extreme weakness. In the midst of a political collapse, with a prime minister on his way out, Canada’s voice to respond to Trump’s delusions does not resonate loudly.
By a hair
The last existential crisis in Canada dates back to 1995. On October 30, the day of the referendum in Quebec, Canada was 50,000 votes away from breaking out. Half of one percent. In the preceding days, with polls showing a yes to sovereignty approach of around 50%, panic had broken out in Prime Minister Chrétien’s entourage and throughout the Canadian political and economic elite.
-That day, an internal crisis shook Canada. One of the components of the country had caused its foundations to crack by coming very close to making the fundamental choice of leaving it.
This time, it is an external event that is destabilizing Canada. A neighbor we know and don’t know at the same time. A president who we saw returning to power while trying not to imagine the consequences for us. So Canada is taking a hit on the face.
Let me connect the two existential crises, taking us back to the creation of the Canadian federation in 1867. It was a pact between two nations, the two “founding peoples”. By throwing this notion away for half a century, English Canada has become a cultural replica of the United States, but with a free but mediocre health care system.
On CNN, Justin Trudeau explained that Canadians define themselves by saying: “We are not Americans.” What a strong identity!
