“Those whose politics is to destroy, to diminish, dismantle, they’re not going to change their instincts. This in many respects, this is their moment. We can’t match them by being timid imitations of them by pining for an old order that’s not going to return. It can only be answered by positive action, by building what comes next.” —Prime Minister Mark Carney
Last week, I wrote about the importance of Canada remaining a monarchy, especially given what is going on in the United States, a republic, amid threats by the Trump Administration to Canada’s economy and sovereignty.
This week, I want to talk about internal challenges facing Canada that must be addressed if our sovereignty and our ability to control our own future are to remain intact and impervious to outside influence.
In my view, Canada’s sovereignty is threatened less by foreign rhetoric than by domestic division, constitutional drift, weak national purposes and governments that too often place regional or partisan interests ahead of Canada itself.
Canada is not only a monarchy but also a federation. Political leadership is divided in Canada between the provinces and the federal government. That often creates tension and sometimes raises the question of who is really in charge. This means that Canada constantly lives with two competing realities.
Some would argue that this is no different than the United States, but it is. Imagine, for example, what would happen if any state in America seriously proposed to separate from the United States. It would not be a long conversation, and it would be quickly shut down by the federal government by any means necessary.
Not so in Canada. We have been batting around issues of separation here, almost since Confederation, like a cat bats around a ball of wool. Our Constitution may be a factor in allowing this to occur, but especially in this day and age, it is extremely dangerous and a threat to Canada’s sovereignty.
Separation movements in Quebec and Alberta are not merely provincial debates. They are clearly national security and sovereignty issues.
Federations like Canada only work when governments still believe that the country itself matters more than any regional political gain. That does not mean that regional differences should not be celebrated and respected. We are, after all, a large and diverse country with two founding languages and different challenges in most parts of Canada. We are not all cut from the same cloth.
However, a federation without a serious sense of nationhood is, in my view, eventually doomed to unravel, eventually becoming little more than individual entities competing with each other for their own gain.
The crux of the matter to me is that I cannot see how sovereignty in Canada can exist over the long haul without national unity. And please do not pretend that we have it now, because we do not.
Foreign governments pay attention to division. If a country appears fractured internally, its international leverage weakens considerably. Allies question stability, investors hesitate, foreign powers exploit our divisiveness and national programs and economic initiatives stall.
The United States, in particular, prefers dealing with a weaker and more regionally divided Canada because it increases American leverage both economically and politically. As one pundit recently opined, “A house arguing over whether it wishes to remain standing cannot effectively defend itself from external pressure.”
A long time ago, there was a popular comic strip called ‘POGO’. I haven’t seen it in years, but I still recall one of that character’s famous lines: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
I do not see that as an expression of despair. I view it as an appropriate way to remind ourselves that the first responsibility for preserving Canada is the active, rather than passive, willingness of its own people to hold it together.
To protect our sovereignty, Canada must become more internally disciplined and strategically serious. Attacks on our sovereignty and on our economy by the United States have certainly spurred us in that direction, but we have a long way to go.
We have much work still to do in building economic independence, reducing overreliance on the United States, further strengthening internal trade, developing energy infrastructure, protecting our sovereignty in the Arctic, restoring confidence in national institutions and demanding that political leadership in all parts of Canada prioritize the country over polarization. We cannot be deterred by knee-jerk objections from self-serving entities.
The comment by the Prime Minister in his quote at the beginning of this article, that “We cannot pine away for an old order that is not going to return,” was, of course, directed at the United States. But it was directed at Canadians as well. It was a call to action.
Mark Carney, or for that matter, any other prime minister, cannot protect Canada’s sovereignty on their own, regardless of how capable they may be.
In my view, Canada’s greatest immediate threat is not annexation, invasion or even economic pressure from the United States. Rather, it is the erosion of national coherence and a strong sense of national unity and determination from within.
Nations do not remain sovereign just because maps say they are countries, just a line in the sand. In attacking Canada’s sovereignty, President Donald Trump has made exactly that point. Rather, Canada will remain sovereign only if its citizens and various governments act decisively as though our country is worth preserving.
Instead of simply blaming external threats for the survival of Canada’s sovereignty, we must ask ourselves the harder question: whether Canada has the internal unity, confidence and institutional strength necessary to withstand and to overcome those threats.
One way or another, Canada needs to get its house in order if we want to protect and preserve our national sovereignty. That means, first and foremost, that national agreement and unity must be the top priority for Canadians and for the politicians that govern us. Pardon the pun, but it trumps everything else.
Does that mean a constitutional conference or a national summit on Canadian unity? I wish I knew. What I do know is that it needs clear, strong and determined political leadership that can forge a consensus among Canadians, achieve unity and speak with one voice in protecting Canada’s sovereignty.
Pogo may have it right. We have found the enemy, and it is us.
Hugh Mackenzie.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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I think Canada has some serious problems right now, and I’m not talking about Trump. Our problems are of our own making. Our democratic process is broken, our system of government is weak and lacks accountability. It’s always been that way, but for the last 10 years we’ve had a government that has capitalized on those weaknesses for their own benefit, to the detriment of Canadians. Canadians have been lied to and taken for granted, and no amount of fancy words by Carney will change that. It’s not surprising we now face the challenges we do. I believe Canadians can unite and pull together, but that won’t happen until we have ethical, honest principled people running the country. Our country is threatened from within because the trust in our Federal government has been lost. Our government needs to rebuild trust from within, and that won’t happen with the same people in charge that destroyed the trust in the first place. Carney is not the man to do that as I don’t believe he has Canada’s best interest at heart. Unfortunately, I don’t see too many of our politicians as having the qualities needed to unite this country and make us strong. Nor do they have the will, it seems, to fix a broken system that works to their advantage. I have doubts now that we will ever be as united as we once were. I am reminded of the quote by James Bovard, an American author. In his book ‘Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty’ he said, ‘Democracy must be more than two wolves and a sheep voting for what to have for dinner’.
Thanks for opening this discussion. Our lack of national unity has worried me for a long time. Having traveled this country, I understand some of the partisan issues but in the end are we not Canadians who know how to negotiate disagreements and stick together over the long haul?
Pogo had it right, a long time ago: the enemy is us – We can blame “social media” but isn’t that due to ourselves in the end?
We need to cease being lazy in our attitudes and set ourselves to learning, helping, speaking out, asking pointed questions, demanding ethical results from those we put in charge of our country’s welfare.
The enemy is not us. It is the social media drivel that people think is reality. I wish that seasoned politicians and public officials would come up with some better ideas than blaming the people. We are living in the best of times right now.
Ah Ha!! It’s NOT Trumps fault we’re declining! Alright, now let’s examine WHY the separatist movement is alive and well in the West, since separatism is just a symptom of the bigger problem that the entire country must resolve.