Let Us Not Get too Smug

Our perception of our relationship with the USA is complex. On one hand we feel like the poor country mouse who cannot compete with the big, rich and multi talented older sibling - Pierre Trudeau once mentioned that being a Canadian living so close to a giant powerful country such as the USA was like sleeping with an elephant. On the other hand we delight in bragging about our acceptance of diverse cultures and our semi-socialist way of doing things including of course, our health care system. The recent US election has, for at least some Canadians, given us a reason to feel more than a little bit smug about our politics and our capacity to think critically when needed. We may not be as rich as the USA and we may not be as big - but we clearly are smarter.

While it is fun and good for our collective egos to feel occasionally superior to the USA, we need to be careful that we are not seduced by these feelings of superiority into becoming complacent about our own politicians. We are all not quite as nice or as bright as we would like to think - there are a number of Canadians who would like to see us devolve into a more racist, sexist and forgive me for saying this but a more "Christian" country. One only has to follow the Conservative party's leadership campaign/competition  to note that there are some who are running to be potentially the next prime minister of Canada who emulate some of Trump's stated values and objectives.

There is one candidate who clearly states  “I don’t believe climate change is a real threat”. Interestingly another candidate was booed at the same meeting when he suggested that there might be a need for some form of carbon tax. A third candidate has clearly been supportive of some the policies that Trump espoused in his campaign including recommending specific policies that would be blatant discrimination against some immigrants - a discrimination based on religion and/or ethnicity. This candidate has said that she just because she supports some of Trump's values - it does not make her a racist. That particular candidate did not attend one of the debates as her home was apparently broken into..... people on her team have, while discussing the alleged incident, suggested that is  "how the left operates".

The campaign is already about which values will Canada adhere to and how to pander to the lowest common denominator. It has already, on the part of at least one candidate, started to use innuendo to smear the another party. Canadians are contributing money to these campaigns. There are Canadians who are cheering these candidates on. There is clearly enough support - else they would not be running.

There have been numerous comments and opinions expressed as to when Trump should have be stopped. Did the press celebrate his newsworthiness and therefore enhance his popularity; should they have been more critical of his policies earlier? I do not know. But I do know that all Canadians (perhaps conservatives most of all) need to watch the candidates and hold them accountable for their comments. We are long past the point where we can let politicians get away platitudes, allegations and poorly defined plans and promises.