As we exhale after an election that had all the elements of a political action mystery thriller movie, we need to reflect.
This movie must be fiction, because you just can’t make this stuff up! A Conservative Party that was a shoo-in, leading the rapidly-dying Liberals by 30 points. There was no way Pierre Poilievre could lose, unless a miraculous intervention magically appeared.
Enter Trump! A power-hungry, land-grabbing president claiming he wants to “Make America Great Again” while out of the other side of his mouth saying he would also like to grab Greenland, the Panama Canal, Gaza, and (a big “and”) make Canada the 51st state.
To suggest this movie would be a documentary, as this first scene unfolds, is simply ludicrous. The prequel to this movie, which began when Trump took office, is an even more sinister tale of corruption, deceit, bullying, brutality, and lies; lots and lots of lies.
Given the conflicts, chaos, and anger we have all suffered to one degree or another, we need to let calmer voices capture the airwaves. The screams of distress and streams of accusations can only be silenced by a resounding resolve for the dreams of hope.
The world needs a reset! Let us get behind our new leader, give our prime minister some “rope for hope.” He says he will make Canada a world leader. He says Canada will fill the hole that Trump has dug for America. Etch those words in your mind. Will he? We don’t know, but we sure as hell should root for him, because we are also rooting for Canada!
If Mark Carney fails to fill the promise of those powerful words, then the “rope for hope” will clearly hang him, and his political career will come to an ugly end, along with the Liberal Party itself.
Given that, why not let Canada be the next scene in this movie? A scene where good neighbours help each other; where Canada stands strong; where the door of respect opens both ways. Let’s give Prime Minister Carney a shot!
A first-time politician can be a good thing. Look across the ocean at Ukraine, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy went from comedian to president. By all accounts he has been masterful with very little help from his former friend, the United States of America.
We find the world in a critical moment in time. President Trump — by weighing in with tariffs and the bold agenda of making Canada the 51st state — has managed to defeat the Conservative Party of Canada, which was well on its way to a landslide victory. Trump managed to pull defeat out of the hands of certain victory; something nobody thought would happen.
Sadly, Trump is a self-serving president who shoots from the hip, not knowing where the bullet will land nor the consequences of the bullet when it does. To even suggest that there is any sense of a cohesive plan, as Trump navigates his political landscape, is absurd. If Trump wants it, he tries to go and get it. Try to stop him with a tweet, a stern warning, or a demand? Find a new job. It’s Trumps way or the highway; end of story.
We wish Prime Minister Carney well. His success is Canada’s success. We should all be rooting for him; at least until he shows us we shouldn’t.
