Nationalism Back At The Forefront In Canada

Back in the late '80s, it was fashionable to talk of the demise of the nation-state. Globalization, it was said, had made both nationalism and national governments redundant. We were told that the world had been transformed into a collection of regions, all bound together through supranational arrangements such as the European Union.

In Canada, the economic nationalism that had fuelled an earlier decade was declared passé. Advocates such as former Edmonton publisher Mel Hurtig were stricken from media Rolodexes.

Now, some 20 years later, it appears that the obituary was premature. The surprise federal government decision to stall the sale of domestic space firm MacDonald Dettwiler to a U.S. company only underlines this fact.

Indeed, there never was much substance to the end-of-nation thesis. The bloody civil wars that rent Yugoslavia in the '90s demonstrated the continuing power of ethnic nationalism. The 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington acted as a harsh reminder to North Americans that national borders still matter.

Canada's elites, however, are always slow to catch on. Within this country's business establishment, the overwhelming response to 9/11 has been a call for even less nationalism.

The theory is that Canada can survive economically only if it plants itself firmly inside Fortress North America. If that demands common borders, common markets or helping the U.S. fight its global wars, then so be it.

Hence the decision to send troops to Kandahar; hence the various government/business schemes (the so-called security and prosperity partnership being the latest) to align Canadian laws and regulations with those of the U.S.

The fundamental flaw in this great scheme, however, is that it assumes the U.S. is onside with this post-nationalist project. It is not. Never shy about their patriotism, Americans have become more jingoistic. In part, this is a response to 9/11; the U.S. is simply not interested in dismantling its border posts. But in part, it is a response to the fear of hard times...

Full article: Nationalism Back at the Forefront