Allan Rock is president emeritus of the University of Ottawa, a former federal cabinet minister and former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations.
One or two things I have learned about my country: first, Canadians tend to avoid overt displays of nationalism. Quiet pride rather than loud boasting is more our style. We know we are fortunate and are calmly grateful instead of noisily assertive. We celebrate domestic successes, revere our heroes and feel wonderful when one of our own is recognized for Nobel Prize-level achievements or other world-class contributions. But we are self-conscious in such celebrations. We reject swagger and are suspicious of braggers.
Second, we admire our American neighbours but do not share their exuberant confidence. Sometimes, we are envious of their natural self-assuredness, conditioned as we are to self-doubt and a complicated sense of identity. But we know ourselves and are a little embarrassed for them when our American friends display, as they so often do, their visceral certainty that theirs is the world’s greatest democracy – that what they have and what they are is the best anywhere. And rather than contradict or challenge them, we’re more likely to show a tolerant smile, reminding ourselves that “the Americans aren’t always right, but they are always right there.”
And one more thing. Canadians are slow to anger. We tend more toward empathy than antipathy. We are inclined to ignore foreign boors rather than confront them. Perhaps because of our innate modesty, we are ready to assume that their slights were unintentional, their insults accidental. And if a voice from abroad seems on occasion to offend us intentionally, our instinct is to let time pass rather than cause an incident.
But there is a limit. And when Canadians are provoked, repeatedly and crudely, and especially by a foreign leader for whom we have little respect, an anger and indeed a righteous rage will rise within us. A sense that “enough is enough” emerges, as does a feeling that self-respect requires a bold and assertive response. Such reactions are rare because such provocations are even more so, especially from a traditional “friend” and ally. But when we’ve had enough, Canadians expect – no, they demand – that we tell the loudmouth that the game has gone too far and that we will take no more.
We are in such a moment. President-elect Donald Trump has spent the last few weeks deliberately mocking our nationhood, ridiculing our leadership and threatening our sovereignty. What first seemed a ham-handed effort at humour has proven to be a serious affront. And it can no longer be ignored. Whether intended as a strategy to induce submission to his punitive policies or yet another manifestation of his toxic narcissism, Mr. Trump’s offensive words must be met with a unified and robust response – a Canadian response.
And what should that response look and sound like? We aren’t going to win a contest in the exchange of public insults. Mr. Trump has a meanness and a megaphone we cannot match. And why escalate the mindless rhetoric? Our Prime Minister must communicate directly and personally to Mr. Trump in a telephone conversation that he has crossed a line and must stop. The PM’s language should be blunt and unfiltered. It’s the only style Mr. Trump understands. This should happen now. Today.
And we are right to prepare tariffs of our own. Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs are unjustified and will damage both countries. Identifying dozens of American imports on which we will levy retaliatory duties is the correct response. Canadian officials are already preparing a shortlist, including American-made orange juice, ceramics and certain steel products. Trade wars harm both participating countries, and we did not choose this one. But we cannot react to a declaration of war without preparing weapons of our own. As former prime minister Jean Chrétien persuasively argued in The Globe last week, we should also go on the offensive, making demands of our own in relation to the border. For example, asking Mr. Trump to stop the smuggling of guns into our country.
We must also communicate with the more reasonable figures on the American scene: the governors who understand the damage that Mr. Trump is threatening, and the voices in civil society, business and media who might persuade him to desist. Our effectiveness is diminished by the lame-duck status of our Prime Minister, but we must do what we can in difficult circumstances.
None of this is easy, nor certain in its outcome. But one thing is clear: Mr. Trump’s outrageous behaviour cannot go unanswered. We all know that the way to deal with bullies is to confront them. By standing up to Mr. Trump, we can show him and the world that our nation has the strength and resolve to overcome his ill-considered challenges to our sovereignty.