Forests, Trees and Democracy

A quarter-century ago, when the United States was attacked by Islamist terrorists on 11 September 2001, the editor of Le Monde wrote a famous banner headline: ‘We are all Americans!’

Today, friends of liberty the world over should say: ‘We are all Canadians!’

— Timothy Garton Ash

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Since Monday, I've found myself thinking a lot about the expression of not being able to see the forest for the trees. It's supposed to be a warning about being myopic - getting lost in the details - and missing the big picture.

But in Canada — a country of millions and millions of trees — perhaps it’s natural that we don't always see the big picture.

“Tell me the landscape on which you live, and I will tell you who you are.”
— José Ortega y Gasset

Our landscapes define our world: jack pine, black spruce, seemingly endless prairie, and massive mountains. This harsh beauty defines our nation and yet to us it seems so commonplace. This is home.

We rarely consider the profundity of living in a land of peace and long winters.

We’re also not used to the world paying attention.

Big events happen elsewhere. Canadians do our thing. We muddle along. Being noticed on the global stage isn't something we think about or expect.

So it is with the recent federal election.

It was a monumental night — an unprecedented race. But already, we're settling back into Canadian politics as the local drama on the Rideau: who’s jostling to get into cabinet? how will Carney maneuver in a minority parliament? and even as the election signs are still being taken down, the media have shifted focus to the mutterings of the Alberta "separatist" gang.

Forest and trees.

But the rest of the world sees something very different.

They didn't tune in to see how the Conservative turf war would play out in Ontario. For them, this election was a key battle in the fight against the seemingly relentless march of authoritarian populism.

The Canadian election was a ballot question as to whether Canada would hold the line against MAGA intimidation.

And we did.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre faithfully followed the MAGA playbook but he didn’t waltz into government on this wave of rage. He lost his own seat. Global observers see Mark Carney's win as a rare sliver of light in a dark and cynical time.

Journalist Victor Kravchuk, writing from Ukraine, captured this sentiment in his piece The Nation That Could Never Break:

“I'VE NEVER WALKED YOUR STREETS. Never seen your beautiful lakes. I don't really know your provinces, your debates, or your daily worries. But this morning, from a war zone half a world away, I was reading about your election. And for the first time in days, I exhaled. A small, almost invisible breath. Relief. Because what you chose is not just a leader. You, my Canadian friends, you chose goodness in a collapsing world. And you saved more than just your country. You saved a piece of hope for all of us.”

In an election defined by Donald Trump, we saw a thug — and we stood up to him. He insulted our nation, and it pissed us off.

Trump is attacking democracy. And we don't put up with that kind of authoritarian shit. Canada didn't ask for this fight, but it’s here.

We are not a nation that will shrink from facing down a bully.

British historian Timothy Garton Ash says this determination has made Canada a symbol for the world:

"Canada which once seemed – in the nicest possible way – somewhat peripheral to world affairs now suddenly looks like a frontline state. One of the world's most liberal countries is, beside Ukraine, one of the most directly threatened by Trump's anti-liberal assault."

Yes, Trump has threatened us. He thought we were chumps. But ordinary Canadians have thrown him back on his fat-assed heels.

As we see the weak-kneed response of the US courts and leaders in the UK and Europe, Canada's resistance is looking more substantive. People are noticing and they’re taking hope from our refusal to bend or break.

But this brings me back to forests and trees.

I know many in Canada who want to get back to normal. But that isn't going to happen. Like it or not, we have been handed a special responsibility at a time when the rule of law and democracy are under global threat.

We can't fritter it away this task by falling back on the usual regional and partisan squabbling. The stakes are so much higher.

We can protect our forests, our trees and yes, maintain our right to squabble amongst ourselves. But only because we are a free nation.

And no convicted felon/pervert in Washington is going to take that from us.

I have been so inspired by the determination of ordinary Canadians from coast to coast to coast who have taken up the job of resistance.

I take comfort from Garton Ash's words that the rest of the world wants to join us.

Yes, in the face of gangster regimes we have all become TEAM CANADA. We welcome you all to our bench.

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Thank you for reading.