Shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2017, journalist Carl Bernstein described the United States as being embroiled in a political and cultural “Cold Civil War”. Like Bernstein, I feel that Canada now finds itself in a similar unfortunate state.A 'cold war' is characterized by propaganda, posturing and attempts to undermine the enemy that fall just short of actual warfare. It is typically associated with 50 years of hostility that existed between Soviet Union and the United States during the mid-20th century.A 'civil war' is a conflict defined as one that exists between the citizens belonging to the same country. The US Civil War of 1861-1865 is a prime North American example.When you combine the two it becomes a term that perfectly describes the contention and animosity, that we see in Canada today, both politically and socially.Politically, the degree of ideological separation and partisanship that exists between Canada’s primary political parties and their supporters has grown exponentially over the past few years.In less divisive times, the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP were more alike than they were different. While some level of disagreement would inherently exists between political rivals, there was always an undercurrent of commitment to the betterment of the public good that underpinned their respective efforts.But increasingly, we now see a shift away from that and towards what Bernstein described as “self-interest and careerism” where our politicians are fuelled and motivated by “ideological self-assertion” and are willing to wage cultural warfare to advance their own goals rather than advance the broader national interest.With Trudeau, think of the carbon tax, the lack of action on creating a foreign agent registry, the SNC Lavalin affair, refusing to label the terrorist entity IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and his reticence to condemn and deal with domestic pro-Hamas agitators. Sadly the list is illustrative, rather than exhaustive.Poilievre, albeit to a lesser degree, has also demonstrated that he also is willing to put political ideology before national interests. This was made evident when he and the Conservative Party voted against the amended free trade agreement with Ukraine over inconsequential carbon tax terminology.But Jagmeet Singh may be the worst of the three in this regard.No politician in recent memory has done more to put advancing their own goals over the national interest than he has, since the day he committed the NDP to the Supply and Confidence Agreement with the Trudeau minority government.Next let’s look societal front in Canada’s 'Cold Civil War.'As a society there has been a perceptible shift in Canadians attitudes. Whether it’s in person, or on social media, Canadians seem less open to opposing points of views. Instead, they’ve taken to buttressing themselves within specific echo chambers.This is to be expected to a certain extent as humans are a social species and will gravitate towards likeminded people. But up until a few decades ago, there still existed a widespread willingness to at least hear evidence or an opinion that stood contrary to one’s own beliefs and judge it based on merit.Our survival throughout the millennia has depended on this very capacity. But we seem to be losing it, and it’s unclear why.Perhaps it was the flagrant decrying of opposing ideas as racist, patriarchal, or genocidal. Or maybe it was the thousands of lives that were needlessly and callously cancelled by ideologically obsessed militant mobs. Tough to say.But regardless, to paraphrase Bernstein, “it’s clear that something’s not working in Canada today and that our country is strained almost to the breaking point.”What Canada needs is a decisive event to halt the insidious disintegration of our social fabric that this Cold Civil War has wrought. It’s time for our leaders to stop with the cloak and dagger tactics of a Cold War and face one another in open combat at the ballot box.Everything from the carbon tax, MAiD, safe supply, the war in Ukraine, antisemitism, immigration, provincial autonomy, reconciliation, and health care, etc. need to be addressed and debated by our politicians and then decided on by the electorate.The worst part of war is the waiting, and the longer Canadians have to wait, the worse things are going to be when the inevitable finally happens.
Shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2017, journalist Carl Bernstein described the United States as being embroiled in a political and cultural “Cold Civil War”. Like Bernstein, I feel that Canada now finds itself in a similar unfortunate state.A 'cold war' is characterized by propaganda, posturing and attempts to undermine the enemy that fall just short of actual warfare. It is typically associated with 50 years of hostility that existed between Soviet Union and the United States during the mid-20th century.A 'civil war' is a conflict defined as one that exists between the citizens belonging to the same country. The US Civil War of 1861-1865 is a prime North American example.When you combine the two it becomes a term that perfectly describes the contention and animosity, that we see in Canada today, both politically and socially.Politically, the degree of ideological separation and partisanship that exists between Canada’s primary political parties and their supporters has grown exponentially over the past few years.In less divisive times, the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP were more alike than they were different. While some level of disagreement would inherently exists between political rivals, there was always an undercurrent of commitment to the betterment of the public good that underpinned their respective efforts.But increasingly, we now see a shift away from that and towards what Bernstein described as “self-interest and careerism” where our politicians are fuelled and motivated by “ideological self-assertion” and are willing to wage cultural warfare to advance their own goals rather than advance the broader national interest.With Trudeau, think of the carbon tax, the lack of action on creating a foreign agent registry, the SNC Lavalin affair, refusing to label the terrorist entity IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and his reticence to condemn and deal with domestic pro-Hamas agitators. Sadly the list is illustrative, rather than exhaustive.Poilievre, albeit to a lesser degree, has also demonstrated that he also is willing to put political ideology before national interests. This was made evident when he and the Conservative Party voted against the amended free trade agreement with Ukraine over inconsequential carbon tax terminology.But Jagmeet Singh may be the worst of the three in this regard.No politician in recent memory has done more to put advancing their own goals over the national interest than he has, since the day he committed the NDP to the Supply and Confidence Agreement with the Trudeau minority government.Next let’s look societal front in Canada’s 'Cold Civil War.'As a society there has been a perceptible shift in Canadians attitudes. Whether it’s in person, or on social media, Canadians seem less open to opposing points of views. Instead, they’ve taken to buttressing themselves within specific echo chambers.This is to be expected to a certain extent as humans are a social species and will gravitate towards likeminded people. But up until a few decades ago, there still existed a widespread willingness to at least hear evidence or an opinion that stood contrary to one’s own beliefs and judge it based on merit.Our survival throughout the millennia has depended on this very capacity. But we seem to be losing it, and it’s unclear why.Perhaps it was the flagrant decrying of opposing ideas as racist, patriarchal, or genocidal. Or maybe it was the thousands of lives that were needlessly and callously cancelled by ideologically obsessed militant mobs. Tough to say.But regardless, to paraphrase Bernstein, “it’s clear that something’s not working in Canada today and that our country is strained almost to the breaking point.”What Canada needs is a decisive event to halt the insidious disintegration of our social fabric that this Cold Civil War has wrought. It’s time for our leaders to stop with the cloak and dagger tactics of a Cold War and face one another in open combat at the ballot box.Everything from the carbon tax, MAiD, safe supply, the war in Ukraine, antisemitism, immigration, provincial autonomy, reconciliation, and health care, etc. need to be addressed and debated by our politicians and then decided on by the electorate.The worst part of war is the waiting, and the longer Canadians have to wait, the worse things are going to be when the inevitable finally happens.
