Opinion: Canada approaches a watershed moment about who we really are
For Canadians, the pandemic’s demise should mean not a return to yesterday’s normal, but a time to demand leadership that reboots our country with a renewed identity and purpose shaped by the values that make Canada a just, democratic society.
A meaningful, modern definition of Canada will also end the smug domination of national priorities by a “Laurentian elite” comprised mainly of white people with roots in the pasts of Ontario and Quebec.
We must spend the money and do whatever is required politically to achieve just resolution of land claims; settle disputes over other treaty obligations; fulfil guarantees of such basic rights as clean water; provide legitimate social services, including health care and education; and support sustaining Indigenous languages. Achieving this and ending poverty and degradation within a conscionable time frame will require a resolve that circumvents exploitative lawyers and consultants who thrive on interminable legislative procedure.
An inescapable priority is funding the military to defend sovereignty in the Arctic, including its economically critical natural resources. Ottawa’s chronic dithering on this makes us easy prey in China’s march toward repressive superpower dominance, just as we fret but do little while China interferes in our electoral process, or menaces people in Canada who Beijing sees as threatening to its interests. It’s time to get our act together.
