Listen Up! American presidential race makes one proud to be Canadian – Opinion

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler

What a difference six inches makes

On most, if not all, international bridges connecting Canada and the Untied States there are two flags, just inches apart, smack dab in the middle. One is Canadian, the other American. One second you are in Canada and the next in the United States. That is how close we are and it always amazes me when I pass those two flags. And yet, it takes this most recent American election to underline for me that while in many ways we are the same, we are also very different, in spite of our closeness.

As a friend of mine has put it, “In this crazy Carnival Barker Reality TV embarrassment of the U.S. election, we need to remember that many decent people offer themselves for public service”. He was speaking particularly about the tragic death this week of Jim Prentice a former Premier of Alberta and a senior and influential cabinet minister in the Government of Canada.

But the sentiment applies across the board. There are many good people who stand for election and serve their country honorably in the United States. And there are a great many decent people who are voting for Donald Trump because they are fed up with a totally dysfunctional system of governance at the federal level. I know this because I have spent a part of many years there.

The great shame of the debacle known as the American Election Campaign, this time around, is that it has become more about racism, sexism and bigotry than it is about the real issues such as fixing government, the economy, terrorism, and the balance of power in a fragile and troubled world. We are hearing much more about the sex lives of the Presidential candidates and their significant others than we are about the issues that really count. In many instances, this has caused voters to forsake their own moral compass in order to choose, from their perspective, the lesser of two evils. It truly has become a revolution where common sense has been trumped (no pun intended) by an almost primal belief that radical change is needed in American politics and damn the consequences.

Contrast this with the Canadian revolution and yes, we had one here, just about a year ago. In comparison, it was a quiet revolution, quite polite, comparatively low key and without scandal. And the campaign actually dealt with the issues. All very Canadian.

The Harper Government had been in power for a decade and many Canadians were ready for a change. Was there anger, vindictiveness and mean spirited rhetoric during this process? Sure there was, but in substance and format it paled in comparison to what is going on in the United States. As a result really, quite radical change came about in Canada. It was surgical but it was also peaceful and without a high level of rancour. In a way, it defined us as Canadians.

I for one was on the wrong side of the Revolution in Canada. I did not support Justin Trudeau and I am still not caught up in the cult of his supporters. But the Canadian in me wants to see him succeed. Who wants to see their country fail?

In that vein however, I remain disappointed in the Trudeau Government. I agree with noted journalist Andrew Coyne who said; “This is a government that has fallen in love with its own image.”

We definitely have a ‘Rock Star’ in Justin Trudeau. He is an intriguing face on the world stage and a media darling at home. But is he showing signs of being an effective Prime Minister? Not yet, in my view. There is a growing sense of entitlement in his government which is disturbing. And while in the course of a single year he has managed to create an even larger deficit that he predicted, there is little to show for it in terms of new jobs or real help for the middle class.

I am comforted however by the knowledge that there are good people in all political parties in Canada, who are there for the right reasons; to make Canada better, whether or not we agree on specific strategies for doing so. Character assassination is not usually a political tool of choice and certainly it has not risen to the debilitating level it has in the United States.

I count, as people I admire, politicians from both sides of the political spectrum. Locally these include, Tony Clement, Andy Mitchell, Norm Miller and the late Ken Black. We did not always agree on the issues but boy did we enjoy debating them.

Respect for good people in public service is important at whatever level and in whatever manner they serve. Their dedication and contributions should not be overshadowed by those few who make a mockery out of the political process. So far, that has not happened in Canada. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. We are only six inches away.

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