Political mistakes are undercutting Canadian unity

Voters sent a clear message to leaders who have let us down, says John Whyte.

The morning after Canada’s federal election, the New York Times carried an article by Ian Buruma, an expert on international politics, commenting on the mistakes made by headstrong politicians and their high cost for international order, social stability and the well-being of populations.

Buruma was writing of President Trump’s abandonment of the Kurdish population along the Syrian-turkish border. Buruma noted that this Pax Americana, while imperfect, had reduced global conflicts, but that this good effect has now evaporated in a fog of broken promises and substitution of personal interests for international peace.

International trust in America, as well as aggressors’ wariness over launching attacks, have disappeared. Trump, he says, has made a mistake and, as usual, the cost of these political mistakes is high.

The recent Canadian election has also been an exercise in mistakes, and these have weakened the nation. Canada is a collection of diverse regions, peoples and nations that need constantly to be reminded that when we lose sight of a common national purpose and our common pride in nation, it is easy for us to fall into intense conflicts and, before long, adopt our nation’s favourite, but corroding, expression of national disenchantment — separation.

How is it that we have again fallen into this political environment of inter-regional hostility?

The 2015 election gave Canadians a sense of common commitments — address climate change without destroying the nation’s economic base; respect Quebec’s distinctiveness without fearing national dissolution; deploy public investment to maintain Canada’s competitive infrastructure without creating unsustainable national debt; create governing space and economic space for Indigenous peoples without falling into balkanization or undercutting reconciliation, and recognize the national extent of poverty, social dysfunction and lack of essentials like housing and health care without wearing down the nation’s strong middle class.

Those common aspirations have not evaporated, but confidence that our national government is pursuing them as honest broker has virtually disappeared. As a result, we are a vulnerable nation. What are the mistakes of our politicians that have led us to this point?

It seems clear from the recent election experience that there are many divisions that have been allowed to grow to the point of weakening the nation. These include intense division over the scale and scope of the carbon-based energy economy, the economic and moral value of sustaining strong levels of migration to Canada, tolerance for Quebec’s exercises of social engineering to maintain its traditional francophone identity, and the affordability of meeting challenges of poverty and social dysfunction.

Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservative Party, made the serious mistake of adopting the ‘economy versus climate’ strategy that was dictated by three provincial premiers — a strategy that most Canadians recognize as fundamentalist and un-nuanced. In making that choice, he brought home to a majority of Canadians that his party would not be able or willing to navigate the complexities involved in preparing Canada to meet the challenge of responding to the perils of climate change.

Jagmeet Singh made the mistake of asking Canadians to believe that spending money taken from rich Canadians was the answer to his litany of social dysfunctions, but failed to explore or admit the need for exploration of the complex processes of social recovery and development.

Justin Trudeau tried hard to be perfect — genial and accessible. But he made mistakes that were not as much foundational as tone deaf — a case of not bringing a high-enough level of social and governmental sophistication to meet the public yearning for a leader that a modern complex nation feels it needs.

These sorts of missteps embarrass Canadians; they want deeply competent leadership — the kind of leadership that comes from an ingrained sense of the limits of power and office. Quebecers want that; we all want that, and when it is missing, our loyalty wavers.

We are a nation that has become beset by mistakes. Admittedly, politics is hard and governing is hard, but we are right to want sophistication, grace, competence.

We are right to send an electoral message to those who let us down.