It feels these days as though Canada, and Toronto, are under siege. It has been an increasingly stressful, increasingly embattled ten years in this country, being as we are maybe the last outpost of old-fashioned liberal democracy.
So I revisited a promotional video that was created by J Walter Thompson, the venerable ad agency, way back in 2017, to remind myself how lucky I am to live in Canada, in Toronto, this marvelous, multi-cultural, much maligned city that has defined my worldview and my life.
This clip brought tears to my eyes on first viewing, and it did again today. Today I wish for myself and my fellow Canadians that we will hang on to the vision of this improbable country, hold on tightly with both hands and never let go, as Pierre Trudeau did, in the 1980’s.
We will not be swallowed up by the US, we will not betray our ideals of social democracy and liberalism, we will set an example of progress in how we approach the world, our history both good and bad, and each other.
Hold fast with open 💕. We’ll get through this.
“The Views Are Different Here”
I’m losing Faith
It’s hard not to feel that the Canada of my youth is gone. I no longer think hope is useful. Action is useful. It’s just so frustrating and scary.
I second that emotion but with reservations. I feel that Canadian need to shed their complacency and even apathy. Voter turnout is still way too low. And we need to find ways to bridge the divided between extremes in the politcal spectrum and regional isolationism. We love to talk about our much vaunted universal health care, but many Canadians still don’t have a family doctor, and gross inefficiencies in the publicly funded health care system have fuelled the appetite for private care for those who can afford it. The public sector is bloated and the taxation system is arcane. We need to level the playing field. And our entire economy is still too based on export of energy and raw materials on the one hand, while a grossly inflated housing market and a low performing dollar spell imminent disaster. We also need to build bridges with Mexico and our trading partners south of the border. 75% of our trade is with the U.S. and that kind of bridge building is the only way to prevent the worst effects of a potential trade war. And these problems cannot be addressed in any real way if we don’t get our act together politically at home. There is so much work ahead.
It’s hard not to be apathetic when you have a system of voting that awards majorities to pluralities, and reduces the full political spectrum to two parties. We need proportional representation of some kind so I can finally feel that my vote counts for something.
Well said David!!