Suppose Canada were to fracture into an array of smaller states

OTTAWA I was going to write a Canada Day column urging Canadians to put aside their differences for 24 hours and spend July 1 imagining how to make their country better.

Then I thought, what’s the point? Come

July 2, this will still be a country defined by unresolved political, historical, geographical and racial grievances. It will still be a country divided by language, distance and a pervasive sense that almost everyone is getting a bad deal. The problem is exacerbated by weak federal leadership that offers no inspiring view of Canada’s future, but merely a continuation of the practice of buying demographic and regional support with large bags of borrowed money.

Canadians have been struggling since Confederation to make this sprawling, underpopulated country work, but there still seems to be more that divides than unites us. Perhaps it’s time to ask if Canada was ever a viable idea. Is splitting the country up the best solution to our problems?

We do not have to be prisoners of history, condemned to spend more decades trying to overcome our divisions. Let’s look at what it would be like if we all went our separate ways.

Quebec could stand as an independent country, of course. It already has its own language, culture, immigration controls, pension plan and tax-collection regime. At about 8.4 million people, an independent Quebec would be a bit smaller than Sweden, but considerably larger than the rest of the widely admired Scandinavian countries. The more than $11 billion a year in federal equalization payments might be missed, but what price freedom?

British Columbia is another good candidate for independence. It has about the same population as Norway or Denmark, ocean access and a progressive political view that differentiates it from the rest of the West.

One would expect Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to form a new country. With a population of nearly seven million and considerable gas, oil and agricultural resources, the New West could build its own future rather than engage in futile complaint about how the federal government is holding it back. Alberta is already demanding Quebec-style enhanced powers. Who are the rest of us to say no?

Ontario would be best positioned of all. It has territory, population, a megacity and superb access to U.S. markets.

For the Atlantic provinces, life without Canada would be as bracing as a sea breeze. Those underpopulated former provinces would have to learn to fend for themselves economically, something that is long overdue. During the pandemic, the four provinces have shut out the rest of Canada. While controversial, the move shows their common interests.

The territories would need to join one of the new countries, finally ending their secondary status.

The biggest bonus of the five-country plan would be abolition of the federal government. For those who believe the entire Canadian system is rife with systemic discrimination, why stop at defunding the police? Defund Canada. No more federal-provincial fights over jurisdiction, no more governments that can attain a majority while not representing parts of the country at all, one less government to buy our votes.

Dismantling the federal apparatus, while certainly unpopular in Ottawa, would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. The armed forces, at more than $20 billion a year, would seem an unlikely expenditure for any province. The more than $300 billion in annual federal revenues would go to the provinces, at tax rates they set.

Perhaps you still see great value in the country that we have. I do, but there’s a problem. Too many Canadians have become solely focused on what’s wrong with our country, not what’s right. We have to remember that countries can fall apart quite easily. If we are really committed to the future of Canada, we have to put aside our national obsession with complaint and self-flagellation and work together. Failing that, a national divorce will look more attractive by the year.

It’s really up to us.