This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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More and more, provinces operate as defacto countries. I'm an Albertan, I'm a Ontarian, I'm a proud British Columbian, etc… The regional pride is really at the expense of the collective whole, as one sense rises, the overall affinity to something big wanes, make no mistake about it. Without a real voice to challenge and think of something wider, we will identify with the advocates who speak to a more confined "backyard". Premiers are "standing up" for their constituents and all are quick to contrast with Ottawa, as though some foreign bogeyman bent on undermining prosperity. The oldest game in Canada, but also a very dangerous mentality that ultimately fractures.
The Harper model essentially sees the federal counterbalance as a nuance, the "firewall" mentality permeates many decisions. In some regards, Canada is interference, Canada is a distant government that doesn't necessarily represent, nor does it have the capacity to adequately speak to regional issues, much better to let the locals have greater latitude. The trouble with this mentality, it creates a vacuum, it actually believes people beholden to subsets can articulate a wider vision. Politicians are only accountable to their voters, to expect some noble pursuit outside of their fiefdom is to seek rarity and with that practical folly. We can criticize Clark, but Redford is no different, even the floated national energy initiative is simply a vehicle to help grow Alberta's wealth, nothing more, nothing less.
It's all fine, if we want loosely affiliated provinces- as Trudeau lamented- but if you believe societal evolution involves greater accommodations and common ground, then Canada has it backward. Are we forever shackled by our Constitution, can it never change, is this Canada's permanent state until it ultimately unravels? Canadians love to think of ourselves as the nation where all peoples can come and share in the experience, we trumpet our internationalism, our multiculturalism, as a model to the world. In reality though, Canada is a thin veneer, there is little commonality, it only articulates itself during sporting events or historic remembrance, but mostly it mocks other regionals, has contempt for other jurisdictions, while pumping its own regional chest with narrow pride.
We can do better, but who is there is to articulate the "greater good"?
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