Cheer up, conservatives
I have spent most of my adult life highlighting the weaknesses of the policy frameworks of the Canadian federal government, as well as those of some Canadian provinces with which I have stronger ties. The Hub also does this on a regular basis. This constitutes important work, and neither I nor the organization I work for, the MEI (formerly known as the Montreal Economic Institute), have any intention of stopping. Our country faces major challenges, and this is not the time to fall into complacency.
Nevertheless, I do believe that “we” (myself, my organization, The Hub, and key actors in the conservative ecosystem) tend to focus too often on negative aspects of what is going on in Canada.
This mindset or approach suffers from several serious problems. For example:
1. It covers only a portion (albeit an important one) of reality.
2. It brands “us” as utterly negative folks who are unable to see the silver lining. And this branding is then readily available for our adversaries to be used against us.
3. It makes us less inspiring and appealing to centrists or non-politically aligned folks who otherwise feel proud to be Canadian.
4. It potentially harms our own psychological health, which, in turn, makes us less effective at our jobs if we become clouded by a sense of despair and negativity as a result of it.
5. It negates (or at least potentially negates) our free will and/or instills the very “victim mentality” we ought to be fighting against.
6. While anger can be a powerful motivator, so are hopes and aspirations. And, importantly, the latter often lead to more noble outcomes.
While it was common in my circles to deride Justin Trudeau’s “Sunny Ways,” there was something to it, and the Canadian electorate responded. Now, the trouble with former prime minister Trudeau is that many (most?) of the policies he ended up enacting varied between bad and terrible. But his initial impetus to focus on a positive and upbeat approach regarding Canada did have its merits.