I’ve (finally) finished reading the book; Could It Happen Here? Canada in the Age of Trump and BREXIT by Michael Adams. I enjoyed it, and I learned about some of the differences between Canada and the U.S.A. from reading the statistics and the commentary within it.

The title raises an interesting question, that I heard Michael Adams address in an interview with Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star. “What do you mean by “It?”. In the book, Adams doesn’t directly answer the question, but there is plenty of evidence that he believes the answer is “NO!”.

I say that because Adams writes about Kellie Leitch at both the beginning and the conclusion to this book. In the concluding chapter he wrote:

“Throughout the Conservative leadership campaign, polls consistently showed support for Kelly Leitch’s notion of a Canadian values test, a signal that there are political dividends to harvest by appealing to the more fearful angels of our nature. That she was also ridiculed and ultimately unsuccessful revealed something about the location of the boundaries of acceptable political discourse in Canada and offers a precise answer to the question of whether “it” could happen here.”[1]

HOWEVER;

During the second of three leaders debates during the Ontario 2018 election campaign, the three political party leaders ( Liberal, NDP and Progressive Conservative ) were asked whether they would support a program to bring new immigrants to northern Ontario to fill job vacancies. Doug Ford, now Premier of Ontario, responded:

““I’d be more than happy to sit down and talk to the folks and look at a pilot project. But number one, I’m a pretty generous guy — I’m taking care of our own first. Once we take care of our own, once we exhaust every single avenue and don’t have anyone that can fill a job, then I’d be open to that.[2]”

Since his election, Premier Ford has withdrawn financial support for asylum seekers who come to Ontario.[3]

All through the book Adams compares and contrasts the U.S.A. and Canada as societies. His analysis of socio-economic data; polling, and academic papers provides plenty of detail on the similarities and differences of our two countries. One of the key differences between the neighbouring countries though lies in the responses to a simple question: “Must the father of the family be the master in his own house?[4]”

From 1992 to 2016 the “YES” responses in the U.S.A. have gone from 42 per cent of those polled to 50 per cent. The figure is 69 per cent in the “deep south”, and lowest in New England (42%). In Canada during the same time period the “YES” response has declined from 25 per cent to 23 per cent (reaching a low of 18% in the year 2000). In Canada the highest is 26 per cent in Alberta and the lowest is 19 per cent in Atlantic Canada.

Another important difference is in response to a question about the style of decision making that politicians have. 54 per cent of Americans like elected officials who “stick to their positions”, while only 38 per cent of Canadians do. Similarly, 58 per cent of Canadians like elected officials who “make compromises with people they disagree with”, versus 40 per cent of Americans.[5]

Could “it” happen here? I think that “it” already has.

The new government in Ontario seems to be dedicated to the kind of “shock and awe” program that Naomi Klein described in her book, The Shock Doctrine”.[6]Someof their decisions in the first few days of being “in power” are outlined below:

President Trump                                            Premier Ford

Environment

Withdrew from the Paris                          Withdrew from the “Cap

Paris Accord                                              and Trade” program with

                                                                      California and Quebec

                                                                      Cancelled 758 “green” energy

                                                                      Projects

Mandate

Drain the swamp                                     Clean up the “mess”

Immigration

Build the wall                                          Ceased support for asylum

Send migrants home                             seekers – “a federal matter”

Social conservativism

Withdrew from United Nations          Cancelled new sex ed curric.

progr. on breast feeding                        Not at 2018 Pride parade

Role of science[7]

Office of the President’s                         Fired Chief Scientist in ON

Science Advisor is still vacant

Of course, there’s populism and other topics that could be dealt with in this note, and both Ford and Trump have an ego that needs to be massaged.

Could it happen here?

I think that “It” has already happened here in Ontario.

[1]Could It Happen Here, page 152

[2]https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/doug-fords-odd-take-on-immigration-in-the-north

[3]https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2018/07/16/ottawa-says-it-will-support-toronto-with-asylum-seekers-notwithstanding-snub-by-doug-ford.html

[4]Could It Happen Here, page 146

[5]Could It Happen Here, page 151.

[6]Naomi Klein has continued her analysis in a new book, “The Battle for Paradise”; a story of what happened after Hurricanes Irma and Maria passed through Puerto Rico.

[7]Just like in the days of the “Harper Government” in Ottawa, who needs unbiased, scientific evidence when we have ideology, eh?

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