On Canada Day, let’s take a rare opportunity to be smug about our understated affluence. Investing in people is Canada’s strength, and we’ve seen how easy it is to mess it up, columnist Don Pittis writes.
Unflattering images on Twitter of a couple in St. Louis, Mo., holding guns as Black Lives Matter protesters walked past their mansion this week were one reminder of how the U.S. and Canada differ.
As Canada’s growth rate plunged nearly 12 per cent yesterday, most Canadians know it is wise not to be smug during this perilous time. It is also good to be reminded that we share many unappealing traits with our bigger, richer neighbour.
But perhaps today is the one day we can make an exception to our stereotyped modesty. And while Canada must face up to its systemic racism, its rich-poor divide and its many other flaws, there may be an advantage in celebrating some of the country’s economic attributes, if only to encourage them.
The charm of being a little boring
As U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly boasts about American greatness and exceptionalism in a way that treads dangerously close to unhealthy national megalomania, a little bit of Canadian boring is actually a charming attribute in contrast.
As I suggested a decade ago in an appeal to get an extension on Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier’s declaration that the 20th century belongs to Canada, the trick is not to make a big thing about it.
Certainly this week, excited rich people with guns was not the only clear indication of our dissimilarity.
A couple pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis as a group marched toward the mayor’s home to demand her resignation. https://t.co/5EqDd43QCd pic.twitter.com/KWNaif77ch
—@ABC
The most glaring difference between our two economies has been a product of the COVID-19 crisis. While Canadians may have suffered from a slow government response, and may yet suffer from reopening business