Earlier this month, Prime Minister Carney announced an invitation for Kevin Roberts, the architect of Project 2025, to meet with his Liberal Cabinet ahead of Parliament's return. The announcement caused a storm of controversy.
The Prime Minister's defenders were quick to jump into the online fray with reassurances that Carney was wiser than us (just trust him) or that it was simply a case of keeping your enemies close.
One man scolded me, saying I didn't understand the world of high-stakes negotiations. Apparently, Carney would use the meeting to glean key information from Mr. Robert's body language and vocal inflections.
Such comments did little to shut down the righteous indignation among many Canadians who saw this as a naive attempt to engage with a man who is militantly opposed to everything our nation stands for.
Roberts has stated his willingness to "unapologetically destroy" institutions that stand in the way of the far-right takeover of the United States. He backs it up with the threat of menace that the takeover will be peaceful only if (and “if” is the big word here) the left is willing to cede their ground.
In Roberts's worldview, the troublesome "left" includes elected municipal and state administrations who are not Republican. Roberts proposes abolishing the democratic rights of these cities and replacing them with what he calls "state municipal districts."
What possible lessons could this enemy of Canadian values offer the Carney government?
Someone on social media pointed out it would be like inviting Joseph Goebbels to meet with the British cabinet when they probably would have been better off learning from Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
No doubt the smart guys and gals in cabinet were sure that they could handle a guy like Roberts.
It recalls the warning of Adorno and Horkheimer:
"One of the lessons of the Hitler period is the stupidity of cleverness... Clever people have always made things easy for barbarians, because they are so stupid. It is the well-informed, farsighted judgements, the prognoses based on statistics and experience, the observations which begin: "I happen to be an expert in this field," it is the well-founded, conclusive statements which are untrue. Hitler was against intellect and humanity. But there is also an intellect which is against humanity: it is distinguished by well-informed superiority."
In the face of the outcry, Carney quickly backtracked. Or did he?
The PMO issued a statement that “regrettably, Dr. Roberts’ office indicated that he can no longer join us to present today.” Apparently, "Dr. Roberts" was simply too busy. But if that's the case, it suggests a situation even more disturbing than the original invite.
The Prime Minister made a political blunder, which was compounded by the failure to recognize the legitimate anger of Canadians who do not want to make space for conversations with those intent on destroying democracy and the rule of law. They want our government to defend these values.
As I was writing this, President Trump released an AI image of himself as the crazed colonel in Apocalypse Now who scorched a village with napalm so his "boys" could surf. Against a backdrop of military helicopters and a fiery orange sky, Trump boasted that he was about to unleash an apocalypse on the people of Chicago. He stated that they would learn the meaning of his newly formed Ministry of War.
Does anyone think for a second that a man who brags about attacking his own citizens will let Canada off with a gentleman's trade agreement?
The rhetoric from Washington is escalating. FBI director Kash Patel accused us of flooding the United States with terrorists. Homeland Security director Kristi Noem says our border represents a threat to American safety. Now Attorney General Pam Bondi is accusing Canada of creating a crisis in human trafficking.
These are orchestrated outbursts of falsehood to demonize Canada. This is the part of the fascist playbook. The stakes are frighteningly high so I understand the PM's desire to tread carefully. But there are areas where we can't cede ground. If we do, the fascists will take it. That is how they operate.
What keeps me up at night are the words of Louis Fischer, a journalist who documented the Nazi rise to power. He wrote that Hitler's opponents couldn't comprehend the real nature of the Nazi threat. As reasonable and democratic people, they made the mistake of believing that they could negotiate with Hitler. Or they thought that they were wiser than Nazi street thugs. They reassured themselves that Hitler was "just being Hitler."
And so, they willingly ceded ground, believing it was a strategy to bring the Nazis into the democratic fold or outwit them. In ceding ground, they fell into the abyss.
Fischer writes:
"How did Hitler come to power in Germany? Hitler's policy at home and abroad has always been to reveal his plans. Hyper-suspicious of propaganda, however, led many people to doubt what he said. The Nazis boasted that they would rule Germany, and Hitler painted a picture of his future rule. "Heads will roll," he said.
He would destroy democracy. Yet democracy tolerated him and helped him take office. The peaceful death of German democracy is one of the strangest chapters in history. German democracy marched to its grave with eyes wide open and singing, 'Beware of Adolf Hitler.' Democracy is temperate. Its foe is extremism."
I was recently speaking with a frustrated U.S. congresswoman who told me that the bigwigs in the Democratic Party were promoting a policy of doing nothing in the face of Trump's open war on democracy. She shared that the power brokers believed the Democrats would win by simply waiting for Trump to implode.
But what we have seen instead is the rapid disintegration of the rule of law in the United States. When it becomes okay to kidnap people off the streets, then it becomes okay to arrest judges at their courtrooms, and that opens the door to putting people in cages without trial.
This is the story of fascism. And you either stand up to fascists when they are still consolidating power, or you will end up in the cages yourself. In the case of Canada, our options are either resistance or accommodation.
At the diplomatic level, the risks of antagonizing Trump are clear, but so are the risks of trying to accommodate the profoundly anti-democratic and thinly-veiled violence of a gangster regime.
This is what concerns me about the Roberts' invitation. It signals either naivety or desperation. If Roberts was the one who blew off the meeting, it's because he didn't need to take the measure of the new government. The invitation alone gave him all he needed to know.
In writing this, I feel the need to state that I am rooting for Prime Minister Carney. Everyone knows that I am not a Liberal. I never will be. But he won the election by offering himself as a wartime prime minister.
We need him to be that war time prime minister now.
Political storm clouds are gathering. Our nation is about to be put in the MAGA vice of disinformation, dirty politics and threat. As a banker, Carney is used to seeing issues from an economic lens. But this fight will be ultimately won or lost based on values and character.
Canadians understand there will be losses ahead. But they have been holding the line in the boycott and they have shown a determination to take the economic pressure and resist the intimidation from Washington.
These are strengths that we can build on.
This is why the PM needs to bring his case to the people and tap into their determination to hold our ground. We need to show men like Kevin Roberts that the Canadian people and government are not going to be worn down.
Canadians understand the nature of the struggle. But the window is closing on whether this generation of political leaders will learn the meaning of Fischer's warning: that the temperate and reasonable cannot find common ground with extremism.
The PM used the term “elbows up” in the election - Canadians are not willing to put them down now.
I am working on a letter against Pete Hoekstra, as he is yet another American danger to Canada, this so called "Ambassador" is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he is playing politics where he should not even be speaking at all! He should be considered by Canada, Persona Non Grata, and asked not to come here and interfere in our Politics in Alberta!! His right wing extremism in not wanted here!
Charlie,
Thank you for saying what had to be said. I am a liberal supporter but I was shocked at the lack of judgement in inviting that person to speak.
I support you in everything you are trying to do. Fighting fascism crosses party lines.