Listen Up! Oh Canada! | Commentary

“The founding of Canada is simple: Unity does not require uniformity.” — Prime Minister Mark Carney

This past week, Canada celebrated its 159th birthday.  What a great country we live in!

Of course, we have had our ups and downs over those years, but on balance, there is no better place to live and no place on earth more fortunate. 

To say that the last couple of years have been challenging for Canada would be an understatement. In some instances, we have been overwhelmed by the negatives: the threats, the intimidation, the challenges to our economy and to our sovereignty.

 Without ignoring those challenges, our strength and our stability will enable us to move beyond them and plot an even better path for Canadians.

Canada has never been the loudest country in the room. We are not bombastic, and we do not shout our achievements from the rooftops.

However, we have repeatedly succeeded because we are practical, resilient, innovative and decent.  Those qualities are more important today than they ever were. Primarily because of them, Canada has, decade after decade, beaten the odds and will do so again if necessary.

We do not all have to be the same. As Prime Minister Carney said on Canada Day, unity does not require uniformity. There have been, and there will be, those who challenge their role within Canada, but regional differences notwithstanding, at the end of the day, unity will triumph because there is simply no better alternative. 

Canada is one of the largest countries on earth, with a relatively small population spread across vast distances and some of the harshest climates imaginable.

Yet look at what we have accomplished.

Canada has one of the world’s strongest democracies, one of the world’s most stable banking systems, one of the world’s highest standards of living, one of the world’s most educated populations and one of the world’s most respected passports. 

We do not aggrandize our political leadership, and we keep them accountable. Our Supreme Court is not run along partisan lines, and we hold the rule of law as sacrosanct.

Canada is highly respected internationally, known to punch well above its weight. That respect has not decreased during the current global challenges, and there are indications that it has actually increased.

 Canada is a middle power in world affairs, but it is an extremely influential one. That is not because of our size or our military. It is because, generation after generation, ordinary Canadians have built an extraordinary country that is envied and admired by many other nations.

Canada tends not to be confrontational. We negotiate, we compromise when appropriate, we build coalitions, and we seek consensus where that is possible. We have learned that complex problems rarely have simple solutions.  

In spite of a significant change in our relationship with the United States, Canada continues to have much to offer, and much that is needed by that country and around the world.

 Our natural resources are second to none. These include, among others, fresh water, oil and gas, forests, agricultural products, potash, uranium, nickel, copper, lithium and rare earth minerals. In an increasingly uncertain world, countries like Canada, with food, energy and critical minerals, will become increasingly important.

There are those in Canada who have serious concerns that building more oil and gas pipelines to get those products to market is a big mistake that risks ignoring environmental issues.  But the reality is that these resources will be required by many countries for several decades.

Meeting that reality is a critical economic opportunity that Canada has. In that context, and also within the realm of Canadian unity, I believe that the announcement of an agreement between Canada and Alberta for a new pipeline to the Pacific coast is a positive step for all Canadians.

It is my view that Canadians have every reason to be optimistic about our future. Our quiet confidence should never be mistaken for weakness or for an underestimation of the serious challenges we currently face or of our ability to confront them.

I also believe that young Canadians, those who will soon be running our country, have cause for optimism. They will have the benefit of abundant natural resources, stable democratic institutions, world-class universities, growing technology sectors, increased access to global markets, and an enormous pool of emerging innovation and talent. 

These strengths are permanent. The problems of today are not.

There can be no argument that the world as we have known it is changing rapidly. But in my view, there must also not be any doubt that Canada and its citizens are up to the challenge. 

Over the years, we have endured the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Quebec Referendum, the financial crisis, COVID, wildfires, ice storms, floods and populism. We will survive this too.

Every generation has believed Canada was facing unprecedented challenges. Every generation has left this country stronger. We will as well.

Even the challenges Canada is facing today, which must be addressed, must also be put in perspective.

The CUSMA Trade Agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada is one example of this. For months, the mainstream media have been pushing the panic button over whether the Trump administration would pull out of the CUSMA agreement by the July first deadline for its renewal in its present form. The insinuation, as I saw it, was that if the United States pulled out of CUSMA on July first, all hell would break out. 

It hasn’t and it won’t because, although media reports made scant mention of this, the CUSMA agreement remains in force until 2036, giving all three parties time to negotiate a new agreement that will suit their respective jurisdictions. 

The United States did not give notice that it wanted to withdraw from CUSMA; rather, it was not prepared to renew it for another 16 years in its present form.  In the meantime, the current agreement remains in force. The United States can withdraw from CUSMA with six months’ notice, but it has not triggered that option. There was no pressure in getting everything done by July first.

The trade war between the United States and Canada is very serious. But we Canadians have the strength, the resolve and the resources to overcome those challenges by creating new partners, lessening our dependence on the United States while also negotiating fair trade agreements with them, becoming more self-sufficient, more innovative and more determined to remain an independent and effective leader on the world stage. 

We can do that.  We must do that.

Canada has never been perfect. We have made mistakes. We still have difficult problems to solve. But when push comes to shove, we know how to stand up for our country. 

The media and the internet may tempt us to worry about the harm that others might do to Canada. However, we must never forget that Canada has already proven what it can do for itself. 

Canadians have reason to be concerned about the challenges Canada faces, but no reason to despair. We are perfectly capable of doing what needs to be done to protect both our economy and our sovereignty. 

We are the TRUE NORTH STRONG AND FREE.

We can do this!                                   

Hugh Mackenzie  

Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to the former Premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.

Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.

In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.

Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.

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