I just don’t believe that Stephen Harper has much optimism about Canada

I find it odd that the idea of American exceptionalism is a conceit of the right that needs to be derided, yet Canadian exceptionalism is the hallmark of the left and needs to be celebrated.

This is an aside, and not an attack on Martha Hall Findlay. I just wonder, is such faith in the outstanding nature of one’s nation a good thing or a bad thing?

MHF: Attitudes—Ken Dryden put it best when he described the Harper government as “pinched”. It’s the perfect word. “Let’s see what little we can do. Let’s give as much up to the provinces. Let’s see how far back we can pull from our Canadian participation on the international stage.” It’s pinched. I find it all rather grumpy. I just don’t believe that Stephen Harper has much optimism about Canada—I get the impression that he’d be just as happy if we were one of the United States of America.

Argh,

This is the classic Liberal trap and it appears Hall has fallen into it.

Harper is a de-centralist:

“Let’s give as much up to the provinces”

Harper isn’t an internationalist:

“Let’s see how far back we can pull from our Canadian participation on the international stage”

and finally, the biggest whopper in the bunch, Harper wants to be an American:

“I get the impression that he’d be just as happy if we were one of the United States of America.”

Seriously, it’s hard to read much more of this interview, if this is going to be the intellectual depth of her arguments.

Of course, her preference for identity politics and quotas should maybe change her slogan to “Kinda Left. Not Right. Moving Forward.”