When a leader of Harper’s calibre and credibility speaks out on the danger Donald Trump could pose to Canada, all of us need to take it seriously.
There are still many people in Canada who are attempting to downplay the potential threat Donald Trump poses to Canada.
Some think he’s just joking about annexing our nation.
Some think he’s just trolling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Some think he’s just trying to get leverage for negotiations.
In part, this is a fear-management technique. To accept that the United States of America is no longer a reliable ally and is now led by a potentially dangerous and unstable individual who wishes to end Canada’s status as a sovereign nation means fundamentally reassessing our view of the world and Canada’s place in it. It means Canada is now very vulnerable, and very much alone. It means we need to become much more self-reliant, and much more powerful, and we must do so quickly.
And that entails massive costs.
So, it’s easier to just pretend it isn’t happening, or just blame it on somebody else.
But it is happening.
Our nation is at serious risk.
And if we want Canada to make it to the 22nd Century and beyond, we may have to endure immense sacrifice and suffering.
This is a realization many patriotic Canadians are coming to. And now, a patriotic Canadian who helped build Canada’s modern Conservative movement is saying so.
Speaking at the launch of his new book, Flags of Canada, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper laid out the challenge facing our nation in incredibly stark terms:
Harper even praised a surge in nationalism – including from current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Such is the extent of the threat posed by Donald Trump that Canadians across the political spectrum are being brought together like never before.
A willingness to accept pain enhances our strength
As noted by Polling Canada in the tweet above, Harper is effectively sending a message that Canada would pay any price to avoid being annexed by the United States.
This willingness to accept pain is essential not only to demonstrate strength but also to dissuade aggression.
Consider the possible implications of what Harper is saying here.
He’s pointing out that Canada should be willing to accept what would ultimately be severe damage to our economy, likely including the near-total cessation of trade with the United States. This would almost certainly entail gargantuan budget deficits, a severe debt crisis, massive currency devaluation, and immense levels of government intervention.
It would be a horrendous experience.
Yet, it would be worth withstanding, because the alternative would be letting Donald Trump destroy Canada’s status as a sovereign nation.
And it would not last forever.
While the economic and social pain would be severe, Canada would remain a nation with a hardworking and well-educated population, and we would still be a resource-rich land. As Harper notes, being willing to accept impoverishment and “any level of damage” would also include reorienting our economy to recover our prosperity.
Even if we must accept massive pain and sacrifice to keep our sovereignty, our people, spirit, resources, and land will still be here. The world would still need what we have to offer. We would recover, and we would remain free and independent.
Sobering & hopeful
When looked at this way, Stephen Harper’s message is both sobering and hopeful.
It’s sobering because he is laying out in stark terms the fact that Canada will suffer immensely if Donald Trump chooses to go down the path of deliberately breaking our economy.
Remember, Trump has said he wants to use economic force to coerce Canadians into giving up our nationhood. He lies about the trade deficit and the auto industry (insanely claiming we ‘stole it’ from the U.S.), to justify his attempt to wreck our nation. This kind of hostility is a total betrayal of our relationship with the United States. It violates our trade deals (including the NAFTA 2.0 that Trump signed himself and once praised as the most balanced deal ever). But since much of the U.S. political system is currently unwilling to push back against Trump’s attacks on U.S. allies, we find ourselves largely on our own at the present moment.
So, if Trump wants to severely damage our economy, he will.
And if he does so, and then says the only way to avoid the damage is to give up our status as a nation, we will have to reject that offer and accept the damage.
This is something most of our political leaders are unwilling to say, because politicians rarely like to share the worst-case scenario, and because many of our party leaders are having trouble wrapping their minds around the idea of the United States being led by someone who may want to destroy Canada as we know it.
But Stephen Harper is someone with the experience, the knowledge, and the gravitas to get this important message across.
And there is a hopeful aspect, which is that by standing up for ourselves and building a resilient economy even in the face of assaults and annexation threats from Donald Trump, Canada would become far stronger in the long run. We would gain the confidence that comes from facing down hostility and overcoming it. We would be a more patriotic and proud nation. We would be more unified. And we would know that we can face the challenges of the future from a position of strength.
Perhaps none of this will come to pass. Perhaps internal political and business pressure in the U.S. will halt the rupture in Canada-US relations. We cannot be sure what the U.S. government will ultimately decide.
But we can be sure that Canadians won’t forget how we’ve been repeatedly threatened over the past three weeks. We won’t forget that the leader of our ‘closest ally’ has openly talked about deliberately destroying our economy and ending our status as a nation. And we won’t forget that the current U.S. government appears to view trade deals and defence pacts as completely optional, rather than as ironclad commitments.
That alone should be more than enough to convince us that we must become much more self-reliant, economically, culturally, and militarily.
We must cultivate our strength, rather than depend on the strength of others.
And we must heed the voices of credible Canadians like Stephen Harper when they exhort us to show strength and resolve in what may be some very brutal moments ahead.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
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