Why we are grateful for Trump

Donald Trump did something great for Canada, said Bob Hepburn. Not on purpose, of course. The U.S. president’s policies were terrible for us, what with the tariffs on our aluminum and steel exports, the threats to build a wall along our border, and the efforts to prevent masks from being shipped to us during the pandemic. But he did manage to awaken a Canuck sense of self. Canadians have always tended to suffer from something of an identity crisis, not sure what binds us as a people. Mavis Gallant, the late Canadian author, once quipped that a Canadian was simply “someone with a logical reason to think he may be one.” Yet

over the past four years, with Trump embodying the worst stereotype of the ugly American, it has become sparklingly clear “just how distinct we are from the tens of millions of Trump loyalists to the south of us.” We give decent health care to all residents. Our politicians “believe in trying to unite citizens, not divide them,” and we have a leader in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who welcomes refugees at the airport with warm winter coats. Canada celebrates its multiculturalism. As the guy in the Molson ad says, we “believe in peacekeeping, not policing; diversity, not assimilation.” So thanks, Trump. You’ve made us “proud to be Canadians.”