An Italian friend who lives in Rome texted me to ask about the current political crisis in Canada that is threatening to topple the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. ‘I honestly can’t see what the “scandal” is,’ he said. ‘Is it all just because Justin forgot to say “please” when asking his attorney-general for a deferred prosecution agreement?’
No and yes — and that is also what makes this scandal so uniquely Canadian.
In Britain, good manners are often an act of passive aggression, while Canadians are pathologically earnest in their civility. We tend towards well-mannered moderation both in life and politics. Unlike in Westminster or Washington — where the rituals of government act as window dressing to a partisan fight — in Canada, our national identity is built on seemliness. The golden rule of Canadian politics (as described by Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells) is this: Canadian politics will tend toward the least exciting possible outcome.
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