Op/Ed: Hurricane Donald, Or Not, Canada Should Have Fixed These Problems Long Ago

Jeremy Nuttall, former Toronto Star investigative reporter, argues "In recent years the U.S. has been solving problems the Canadian government wasn’t interested in."

By Jeremy Nuttall

The nerves have been frazzled north of the border here in typical Canadian style, in the wake of the election of Donald Trump as president of ‘those’ United States. As Robin Williams famously said, Canada is like a really nice apartment over a meth lab.

And now, a significant swath of Canadians are reeling from the election of a man who has so many failings, both with his character and ethics, running the most powerful nation on Earth, with whom we share a border. It has understandably sparked a doomsday scenario in the minds of many Canadians.

But if you’re looking for a way to work out this nervous energy, here’s an idea: help put Canada’s house in order. This apartment isn’t as nice as the late Mr. Williams would have us believe.

Trump’s first term as a U.S. president saw many guardrails and civil servants prevent him from enacting his full agenda. The U.S. institutions did a decent job of mitigating damage. Oh, how nice it would be to see such gumption in the halls of power in Canada. But we don’t, and that makes this country even more susceptible than the Americans are to the whims of any nefarious would-be ruler.

In recent years, the U.S. has been solving problems the Canadian government either wasn’t interested in, didn’t know about, or, most likely, didn’t care about.

The money laundering charges against TD, taking a stand on issues related to Beijing, including foreign interference, and acting to stop slave-labor-made goods from entering the country while Ottawa did nothing are just a few examples. Say what you want about the United States; they forced Canada’s hand on these issues or drew attention to our country’s inaction.

But that’s likely over for now, and if you’re really worried about the perils of a Trump-style candidate ever coming to Canada, you should be aware this country has already had the kind of scandals Trump’s next presidency is predicted to bring.

What do I mean?

Foreign interference, money laundering, cronyism, and the breaking of our transparency laws are commonplace. We have an opacity problem combined with institutions less resistant to scumbaggery, and anyone with enough power and little conscience could really manipulate them if they so wished.

Examples? Sure. We can start with the government refusing to hand over all the documents as ordered by Parliament related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The Liberals’ refusal to give up such documents has had Ottawa in gridlock for months. Doesn’t that sound like something a Trump-style candidate would do?

We found out last month that, after Liberal Party supporters chastised “illegal CSIS leakers” for giving evidence the PMO chose to ignore to the media, Trudeau’s national security adviser and deputy minister of foreign affairs leaked information about India’s potential involvement in the assassination of a Sikh leader to one of the biggest U.S. media outlets going, The Washington Post. I haven’t seen any demands for an investigation into that.

We’ve also recently had the Greenbelt scandal in Ontario, the ArriveCAN scandal, and B.C.’s money laundering inquiry revealing how white this country can make your green. The RCMP, meanwhile, more frequently doesn’t release basic information about crimes, including the names of homicide victims (an important, though somber, matter of public record).

Then there’s the increasing liberties being taken with our systems of government by those in charge of it. Wab Kinew’s Manitoba NDP booted a lawyer out of caucus because someone in his firm—not even him—is defending Peter Nygard in his sexual assault trial. Kinew apologized after uproar from legal groups, but the move draws into question how important the right to a defense and its importance to the justice system is for that government.

Over in Alberta, Danielle Smith is making anti-vaxxers feel special by crafting legislation specifically protecting them from workplace vaccination mandates, in what is obviously a politically driven waste of public resources.

Last week, we learned the CRA apparently orchestrated a “witch hunt” to find out who dropped the dime on their false reimbursement scandal. And while we’re on the CRA, you may recall more than 230 CRA civil servants were fired earlier this year for falsely claiming CERB.

It goes on, and, as bad as all that is, what’s worse is how our political parties have, without any real opposition, politicized our civil service.

ATIPs and FOIs aren’t returned within legislated timelines as staffers thumb their noses at the media and public. There’s a sense of entitlement to use public funds and information for political advantage, and it’s just ignored by the public. Our government ministerial positions are more frequently filled with career ladder-climbers rather than seasoned professionals with a proven track record before entering politics.

Going back further, Jody Wilson-Raybould was tarnished for not toeing the line in the SNC Lavalin Scandal. Our former ambassador to China effectively took China’s side in the Meng Wanzhou detention over our biggest ally, saying it’d be “great for Canada” if the U.S. dropped its extradition case against her.

The same man, John McCallum, would later tell Chinese officials that their continued targeting of Canadian trade could lead to a Conservative government. Sure, it raised eyebrows, but nothing came of it.

This is your country, Canadians, and it’s open season. It doesn’t matter what party is in charge; these issues of accountability and politicization exist in all of them.

Don’t look for the media to save us. Many editors don’t see what the big deal is with all this. “It’s always been like this” is something I’ve heard way more times than I’d care to list from journalists in recent years.

Aside from a few bright lights or publications, Canadian media is either unwilling or incapable of really digging into some of the more serious issues like foreign interference, government corruption, and the lack of transparency.

The goodwill of the Canadian public and warm fuzzy feelings about this country help keep the status quo. If we ever have a serious threat from a Trump-like politician, this place is easy pickings.

We’d be wise to, instead of collectively shaking our heads and ranting about the decision made by the U.S. public, start making sure it can’t happen up here and make the current threats to our democracy your issues.