I have never been called upon until now to defend my country and the democratic values our flag stands for. But I won’t shirk, now that there is a need for Canadians of every generation to stand on guard.
Before I get into that, though, I want to reach out to our friends south of the world’s longest undefended border and say: I am not your enemy, but the actions of your president and his ardent supporters are forcing me to think like one.
Whether you label it ‘trolling’ or ‘hard bargaining,’ when the leader of the world’s most powerful nation mocks my prime minister and refers to my 40 million fellow citizens as residents of ‘the 51st state’ alarm bells go off. It’s all hands on deck.
I’m too old to lace up my boots, shoulder a rifle, and march off to war, but I won’t sit idly by and watch an aggressive, crude, tyrant threaten my country and seemingly position himself to wage war against us.
President Trump’s political sleights of hand are as insidious and odious as they are obvious. Create an enemy, focus your supporters’ attention on your strength and determination to defeat the target of your concocted rhetoric, and get on with the business of dismantling your own nation amidst the mayhem.
If you can’t stop this madness from your side of the border, I can assure you, we will martial every resource and take whatever steps we must to stop him from this side. I don’t mean this as an insult, but I will never be an American; I am and always will be Canadian.
My father, along with thousands of Canadians, enlisted in the fight against fascism in the Second World War. Never in my bleakest imaginings did I foresee the need for similar commitments and vows against our closest friend and ally nine decades later.
But our determination must be voiced now so our neighbours to the south will know what they are getting into if they allow their president to continue down the road he’s taking. There will be no winners if our friendship is damaged, only losers – except for the few who believe that ‘survival of the fittest’ is the only tenet of sound policy, and that warfare in any manifestation, doesn’t need any sort of justification other than the dictates of sheer greed, power, and unbridled egotism.