Something weird is happening. I am surrounded, reading temporarily happy people, writing about “our moment”, “seize the moment”, they say, it’s Canada’s “moment of truth”.
My last piece argued we’re all gonna die, or go to Mars with Elon. What about the tariffs, the corruption, the terrorism, the despots, the planet on fire? Don't they know? The moment kinda sucks.
But now, Paul Simon, the singer/songwriter (remember him?), told a room full of Canadians, “You really are a beacon in the darkness.” He joined a chorus of foreigners thanking Canada for setting an example of how the world should be.
We are basking in the glow of being recognized, being seen. France, the UK, and the Americans who aren’t MAGA have all discovered us. Everybody loves us! I sound like Sally Field and her Oscar speech a million years ago: ”You like me, you really like me!” I’m trying to share in the excitement about our moment, but I just don’t see it actually changing anything.
There's been a lot of chatter about the hockey rallying cry Elbows Up, but other than telling Trump to cool it, I don’t think we’re tough at all. There’s a reason the world has seen us as weaklings, with no elbows at all. For years, we have been the sidekick to the U.S. We’re not ready to be the cool kid.
We are nice, we put a maple leaf flag on our backpack when we travel, people think we’re so nice. But we are not leaders. Despite all the talk, we don’t play with our elbows up. I’d argue we should turn the elbows on ourselves.
On the TV cartoon “South Park,” we’re not just weaklings. There’s a recurring bit claiming Canadians are losers. Whatever. We’re just happy to be mentioned. We even laugh at all the other jokes, even when most of them show us to be completely spineless, aka losers...hahahaha.
We may have been great 80 years ago during World War 2, but even then, everyone thinks they were heroes. A lot of Americans believe WW2 only began when Pearl Harbor was hit. “Canadians were there too? Long before us? Who knew?”
Now we think we’re expected to help save the world again. But do Europeans, Americans, anyone, really expect us to do much? Mark Carney says, “If the U.S. no longer wants to lead, Canada will.” It sounds great, but really? We love democracy and all, but the world needs a lot more than us. We may have been overlooked, but we were happy being underestimated, as long as our best friend looked after us.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Musée National des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City. There’s a gallery that features Canadian (ok, Quebec) design. I was struck by all the references to Expo, the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal. It could be just that I was a little kid and life was simple, but I have the sense that we were proud and confident. We had a certain mojo then; we were not an overlooked sidekick.
Seeing it now, I realize Expo was an enthusiastic opening to the world, who knew where it would take us? Now, huge parts of the world are a mess. Paul Simon and a bunch of Canadian pundits may think it’s our moment. I don’t think we are ready to take the plunge
Didn’t mean to go all Debbie Downer on this, but the world is terrifying right now. Can you be a cynic and a fighter? Help figure it out. Or just subscribe! Please pay if you can, we’re super cheap.
I do think this is our moment if we embrace it & ignore the Maple MAGATS!
In the real world Wendy, everything you say about us is true. But can't the opposite be as well? Canada has always been an aspirational country, a work in progress, and a place of wins and losses. When I get discouraged, and I do, I think about people like you and the many who try to make this complicated world clearer for us with integrity and passion, and then I feel, well, progress is possible. Better than lying down and doing nothing, or endlessly whining. This Canada of ours will take teamwork. As Joyce Vance of Civil Discourse says, "we're in this together".