This is a special autumn election result edition of Doorstep Postings, the periodic political commentary column written by Josh Lieblein for The CJN.
In case you haven’t noticed, Canadians and Americans are very different people.
Americans are friendly, outgoing, welcoming, generous, open and fun to be around. They also think nothing of solving problems big and small with outrageous levels of violence, be it verbal or physical. They’re not especially proud of this, and try to work around it and channel it into positive ends, often with great results.
But they believe in freedom, and when two notions of freedom come into conflict, as they inevitably will, the inevitable result is more violence. As such, anyone who wants to lead them must look and act like a credible threat, even if that image is transparently fake.
Canadians are polite, peaceful, harmonious, optimistic and orderly. Everyone must maintain an exaggerated social awareness at all times and apologize right away every time a minor social infraction is committed. Anger and violence are only tolerated when they are used against someone who refuses to fall back into line after having crossed it. Creativity, wealth, fame, talent—none of these things are as important as the ability to get along. Canadian leaders can break the law, but they can never deliberately hurt another person’s feelings.
It must be said that Jews are not the only people who forget that Canadian politicians must behave differently than their American counterparts. But if I had a dollar for every time I’ve listened to a member of the community express frustration that their local representatives or candidates are not being as loud or aggressive as they apparently should be in favour of or against Israel, I could retire at age 40.
We’re not supposed to be on the streets fighting for Israel’s safety or, alternatively, to have it boycotted or sanctioned—our premier should, or our mayor should.
Except, of course, when someone on the other side crosses the line, or when an elected official gives offence. Then suddenly we are Canadians again, demanding that the person who offended us apologize, sit down for a meeting, implement an action plan, adopt a definition of antisemitism. Words and behaviour and commitments and statements and tone and etiquette—this is what matters in Canada.
It is, of course, completely absurd at this point to expect Donald Trump to be “disqualified” for anything he says or does. This was apparent even before Trump absolutely ran the table this week, beating Kamala Harris so decisively that the possibility of an insurrection or a stealing of the election was immediately ruled out.
Waiting for Trump to self-destruct is a loser’s game, but it was one the Democrats faithfully played right up until the end. Oh dear, a comedian made a joke about Puerto Ricans at a rally. Oh my, Elon Musk put everyone off with his signature jump. Horrors, another weird statement from JD Vance.
Had any party executed Kamala Harris’ campaign up here, it would have been received as an historic triumph. Every time Tim Walz zinged the Republicans, Canadian politicos swooned like Swifties. Every time Trump demonstrated himself to be a classless bully, Canadians trembled with disgust.
Meanwhile, our country consigns conservative parties to defeat in New Brunswick because their leader rolled around in anti-transgender rhetoric. New Democrats returned to a majority in B.C. because their opponents were too conspiracy-minded. A longstanding Saskatchewan government took a hit because they too partook of the trans panic.
And, right here in Toronto, actor-turned-journalist-turned-aspiring mayor Anthony Furey went down to defeat in a city council byelection because his published history of right-wing rantings—which were excerpted in literature distributed by Progress Toronto activists boosting his primary opponent, the incidentally Jewish school trustee Rachel Chernos Lin—divided the diverse voters of Don Valley West rather than uniting them.
(That was an extremely glib reading of what happened in all four of these aforementioned electoral contests—but who am I to shade it with any nuance when it’s the narrative craved by Canadians?)
I would be the least surprised person out of anyone if, after months of non-efforts from Justin Trudeau and his bedraggled Liberals, federal polls finally start to tighten after the U.S. result. Who’s to say whether the mere presence of Trump terrified voters into voting centre or left in our recent run of elections? You’d be hard pressed to find someone who would disagree without risking a nasty side-eye.
You will certainly see a big shift to it-can’t-happen-here rhetoric amongst the commentariat, with the dutiful reporting of every bad thing Trump does down there, as if nothing worth paying attention to is happening up here. Liberals will profess outrage while pumping their fists in joy in private with every Trump outburst. And you just know our delusional PM will be casting himself, and Canada, as beacons of democracy now that America has fallen. Don’t agree with this tactic? Well you must be one of those Trump-curious people.
Lest you think I am letting the Conservative Party of Canada off the hook, nothing could be further from the truth. You’ll see ill-advised forays into Trumpery from those within the fold who’ve spent a bit too long online—followed quickly by clampdowns, distancing and denials. Remember: just because the Liberals says Pierre Poilievre is Donald Trump, doesn’t mean that the CPC isn’t going to insist loudly that nothing could be farther from the truth. Sure there’ll be one or two points of connection between the two, such as full-throated support for Israel (and really, isn’t that anyone really cares about???) and the occasional Trumpish jab from Poilievre will land and send the left into a tizzy for a week or two.
But if you actually want Poilievre to govern like Trump, prepare for disappointment. Much like Kamala’s joyful campaign was a bridge to far for American voters and their craving for carnage, so too will Poilievre faithfully follow what has been.
Likewise, if you have convinced yourself that Poilievre will destroy Canada, or fundamentally alter the permanently fragile consensus that binds our nation, fear not: Trump 2.0 is just the threat we need to keep Canadians united!
Josh Lieblein can be reached at [email protected] for your response to Doorstep Postings.
