No Return to Normal

A Message To My Fellow Parliamentarians

I once heard a fascinating interview with a woman who worked in the second tower on the morning of 9/11. When the first plane hit, she and her colleagues were shocked and frightened. They watched in horror as the neighbouring tower burned. But then everyone went back to work. She, however, got up and said she was leaving. They tried to reassure her that it was just a freak accident and the best thing to do would be to carry on as normal.

She made it out of the tower. None of them did.

We often speak of the fight or flight tendency. But when faced with an overwhelming breach of our certainties, there is another defence mechanism – to try and normalize a reality that we know is not normal at all. We anesthetize legitimate fear by sticking with comfortable strategies. All in the hope that everything will somehow pivot back to normal.

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Even now, as Project 2025 shakes America to its core, there are those who say the storm will pass. That Trump only has two years. Then, the Democrats will win back control of the House. The rule of law will be restored. America, the decent will return.

Maybe.

But more and more, I fear that this is just one of those tales we tell ourselves because it is too hard to acknowledge what we know is really happening.

You can pick any of a thousand indicators of the mayhem since January 6th to show why there may be no going back from this breach.

Take, for example, the news that the Attorney General of Missouri is suing Starbucks for hiring minority and equity-seeking workers in their shops. Apparently, hiring folks that aren't white somehow slows the service. Hence, the state went after a coffee shop for hiring minority workers.

Given all the chaos with DOGE, this might seem like an outlier example, but it indicates how deep the desire is to beat down on those on the lower rungs. That's why people voted for Trump. This is why the power of the state is going after minimum-wage coffee servers. And why Trump's backers like his threats against peaceful allies.

Tyranny has always been rooted in ugly displays of predatory power. Once the meanness becomes okay, you can kiss goodbye to democracy, the rule of law and human decency.

Whither Canada's Politicians?

In Canada, some leaders – the Prime Minister, Premier Furey, and Premier Eby – have been blunt regarding just how deadly and serious the Trump threat is. But despite these unprecedented statements, the political realm keeps dialing itself back to a false normal.

To be fair, there isn't a single political strategist or Comms person with any experience charting our way through these times. Canada hasn't faced a threat this serious since the 1930s. It’s okay to admit that none of us really know what to do now.

But rather than thinking outside the box, political strategists are sticking with the tried and true as if this will get us back to the world that existed before November 5, 2024.

I'm sorry, but the same old won't cut it.

In watching Canada's political scene, I feel like the woman who watched the plane hit the first tower. It's even worse witnessing the failure of the Democrats south of the border.

Canada must undergo a massive rethink of our politics, economy, and international relations to meet the challenge in this new and darker world. To forge a new and independent path means breaking out of our partisan boxes and building a new national consensus. There is simply no other way because no one leader or party has the playbook.

For now, can we agree to put aside the well-worn tactics of improving the "message box" while trying to "frame" our opponents to score a slight bump in nightly polling?

Can we put on the table the possibility of a "Canadian parliament" – all parties working together to steer our nation through the coming months?

Naive? Absolutely.

But I have been 21 years in the political trenches in Ottawa and if I go out on something I’d rather it be for having naive hope that our best angels then trusting in gamesmanship.

This moment demands courage, unity and action, not complacency. Canadians are already leading the way. Their politicians need to be there with them.

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