Canada Must Regain Balance
Post 23 | Build our future, don't tear down our past
Last week’s post on Canada’s productivity gap offered six ideas to get us economically back on track. And while I acknowledge we have huge issues to fix, I believe our fiscal health can be repaired over a ten year period and even see short term gains with the right principles and targeted policies in place.
When it comes to fixing the social constructs of our country that have been so badly damaged over the past eight years, however, I fear they may be generational and harder to repair.
This struck me hard when reading a brief article in the National Post last Friday, “McMaster University apologizes for 'grave oversight' of noting Sir John A. Macdonald Day.”
It describes, “The inclusion of Sir John A. Macdonald Day on a McMaster University calendar has led to an apology to students for the “grave oversight”. “We inadvertently included the mention of Sir John A. Macdonald day, which is a day that commemorates a person who was responsible for the genocide and oppression of Indigenous peoples in Canada,” the email, sent to medical students at the Hamilton, Ont., university, said. “We are committed to creating a culture of diversity, inclusion, and respect in our department, and we recognize that our calendars should reflect the values and identities of our members and the communities we serve.”
That even acknowledging Canada’s commemorative day (January 11th) of our founding Prime Minister is now considered a grave oversight, leaves me angry and demoralized with this anti-history* and anti-Canadian position from an institution charged with leading students in critical thought - though they are far from alone in this behaviour. And apparently, all we Canadians who wish to recognize and celebrate our country’s builders and their place in history are not considered members of those communities worthy of inclusion and consultation, even though we fund the universities with our taxpayer money.
[* There is no shortage of scholarly books and articles on the history of Sir John A., including many correcting recent years’ retelling related to residential schools. A concise accounting, recently written by Greg Piasetzki and published on Aristotle Foundation can be found here]
Given torn down statues, renaming of streets, schools and buildings bearing his name and the overall abuse of Sir John A. Macdonald’s legacy these past years, I believe history will record our times very poorly on this matter. All those who currently sit in judgement would do well to note that history may also cruelly judge them by then-accepted standards and selectivity, since that’s the new court of opinion they have created. And given today’s societal fickleness, it may not even be distant history before they land in the crosshairs.
The fact that this McMaster story does not appear to have been reported by other major press is also distressing, as it suggests that the rewriting of history at the heart of the issue is now tacitly accepted. But is it?
In his 2022 book, Collective Illusions | Conformity, Complicity and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions, Todd Rose describes the insidious power of conformity and the destructiveness of silent acquiescence. “The truth is, we care about being in the numerical majority even when the group opinion is merely an illusion.” He further explains that we can fall into a “consensus trap” where, “This trap creates its own breed of collective illusions - one rooted not in lies but in silence that spreads until the fog of misunderstanding envelops us all. Silent consensus is extremely pernicious because it doesn’t feel like we’re doing anything wrong.”
My faith in Canadians speaking up for truth and balance was strongly bolstered by a powerful article published last week in The Hub, “Senior university administrator: Universities are no longer a ‘safe space’ for debate” - where a university insider calls out how open academic expression has been sacrificed at the altar of DEI and talks of, “the singularity in acceptable thought that undermines the purpose of the university”. The article’s anonymous publishing does not detract from the power of someone stepping up while putting him/herself in career harm’s way if exposed. I urge you to read it directly as it eloquently addresses many cultural issues that weigh not only on our teaching institutions, but Canada as a whole.
The revisionist history stain on our national heritage can be traced, in significant part, to Justin Trudeau and his government whose words, tone, actions, and policies have had an outsized effect on our tortured culture. A Canada where Toronto’s Dundas Square gets renamed to a committee-appeasing name with no connection to our heritage. A Canada where Montreal votes to not re-erect a statue of our founding Prime Minister previously torn down with no criminal repercussions. And where our publicly funded universities erase history and rename things rather than standing for objectivity.
In eight short years, Trudeau has imprinted his twisted ideals of equity, post-colonialism, post-nationalism and environmental extremism onto our country. And while I cannot know what’s in another man’s heart, I doubt the sincerity of his gender, indigenous and climate crusades despite his breathless words and mountains of our cash he has dispensed. Each issue seems merely a convenient flashpoint through which to leverage support from the most outspoken advocates of a group, while whipping the rest into increasing militancy from the bully pulpit. He then wanders off to his next cause du jour, leaving a mess behind.
Meanwhile, over the past few years the world around us has become increasingly complicated and indeed more dangerous, with political, economic and military power shifts coming at a fast pace - but we’ve been too distracted to prepare for it.
Canada must get better, fast, if we hope to thrive.
We must urgently regain a balanced domestic mindset that respects history, where our education systems teach and lead rather than bow to advocacy pressure, and where we celebrate our multiculturalism without tearing down what brought us here.
We need a clear national strategy and strong leadership that acts for the benefit of our economic productivity, national sovereignty and energy independence.
We must construct our way back to a day when Canada’s words and actions in the international community had utility, backed by investment, action and people of substance behind a meaty foreign policy.
For now, the only way I know to address our societal angst is to raise the issues - to encourage critical thinking and give voice to what we’re allowing to silently happen.
There comes a time when silence is betrayal. [Martin Luther King Jr.]
My definition of Pragmatism as previously shared is, “An approach to life that considers history and context, behaves sensibly and realistically, and acts more on the basis of practicality than theory”. I encourage us to focus ahead based on these simple principles and while history should inform us, we cannot be a slave to it and perpetually litigate the past.
So I challenge those who are busy looking back to deconstruct, tear down, ban and judge our past - to instead spend time on building, creating and contributing to the future of Canada. Ask what you are doing to create something of value that will stand the test of time, for the good of our country as a whole. There are plenty of Canadians doing just that, and who want to celebrate this beautiful country in its totality.
Stay tuned and stay pragmatic.
A thoughtful post. One issue I have with the 'cancellation' of John A. Macdonald is that, in many ways, he's an ancestral figure for a lot of non-Native Canadians. He helped make a lot of our individual family histories, our achievements as a society, our cultural heritage, and more possible. Are these things morally tainted because of their connections to Macdonald and others like him?
I also have serious concerns about letting the political right, especially the alt-right, have a sole claim on patriotism and pride in one's country. That sort of thing still motivates a lot of people-and coming across like you're condemning it risks driving away a lot of potential allies.
A closer look at Macdonald's political record shows that the likes of Ezra Levant probably wouldn't have any time for him if he was alive today. His opposition to the assimilation of Francophones outside Quebec, his protectionist trade policies, his starting to extend voting rights to First Nations people without forcing them to give up their status (which one newspaper whined was "an insult to the dignity of the people and an insult to free white people in this country to place them on the same level as the 'pagan and barbarian' Indians"), his heavy spending of public money on the CPR that effectively made it the first Crown Corporation and his writing that Quebec should be treated as a nation would likely all lead to his being accused of being a Laurentian Liberal, or even an NDPer!
Another very well written piece. The incredible injustice that is being perpetrated on Sir John A’s legacy is a travesty. The activists behind this travesty clearly subscribe to the axiom, “ don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story”!!