Canada’s New Prime Minister Has Had Enough

Those of us raised on the tough side of the tracks know a wannabe bully when we see one. Lots of bluster, menacing threats and theater for the crowd. Maybe the wannabe connects with a blindside shot, but never do they face an opponent straight up. Or follow the rules.

If you’ve already jumped ahead, dear reader, you’re right. The People’s House is packed with wannabe bullies, all beholden to a Chief Wannabe who’s yet to figure out the rest of the neighborhood will sooner or later have enough.

And the neighborhood will do well to keep watching: An unchecked, corporatist administration drunk on power can’t be satisfied bullying and blindsiding us here at home; they want to do the same for sovereign nations once squarely in our corner.

But in a world devolving into countries that will or won’t kowtow to Trumpism, there’s our Neighbor to the North. Some 85% of Canadians and their new leader are thus far firmly in the latter column. And although Ontario’s premier blinked in March by suspending announced surcharges on electricity sold to the U.S., newly installed prime minister, Mark Carney, 59, is having none of the 51st state claptrap.

At a press conference held during his visit to London in March, Carney was once again asked about Trump’s overtures to become a U.S. state — that question, coupled with a follow-up regarding Carney’s visit, raised his ire: Was he there as part of a strategy to rally European Union countries to his country’s cause?

The response was measured but quick: “We can stand up for ourselves. We’ve called out those comments. They’re disrespectful, they’re not helpful, and they need to stop before any conversation about our broader partnership with the United States. But we’re Canada; we don’t need other people to come to our aid.”

Carney may be whistling through the proverbial graveyard when it comes to Donald Trump’s imperialist influence abroad, yet Carney’s bonafides and focused temperament should cause concern for Trump’s staff taking his measure.

Like Trump, Carney is steeped in the business world, wealthy and and has no prior political experience — a portfolio that, as The Guardian economics editor, Heather Stewart noted, would all but disqualify Carney in normal circumstances.

But as Carney advertised during his run for prime minister, he may just be the antidote for U.S. economic aggression: “I know how to manage crises … in a situation like this, you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills.”

Carney’s response is at once chillingly Trump-like, yet in the end, a good sign. It’s a clear signal that somebody in the neighborhood has already had enough. Let’s hope he can get the rest of the neighbors to face the wannabe straight up.

_{Don Rollins is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio, who had a ministry in Canada for a few years.}

_{Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.}