Is Canada Broken?
The Context: What is going on?
In a statement in November, Pierre Polieiver's claimed that "it feels like everything is broken in this country right now" in a move to undermine political competition in Trudeau's leadership as PM.
In a speech at the Liberal Party's Christmas Party last Wednesday, Trudeau seemed to respond to this by declaring that "Canada is not broken."
Which begs the question, which one of these wealthy politicians and white cis-het men is correct?
We're so glad you asked.
Look, we've said it before, and we'll say it again - we have no patience for political jargon that expertly avoids talking about actual, specific issues.
This is because everything we do here at OCP is about how we love Canada, but we also know that Canada has a long way to go before it is the country our social studies teachers made us think it was. So let's unpack.
The system may be broken, but Poilievre certainly isn't trying to fix it
The evil brilliance is that Pierre makes it seem like he agrees with us when in reality, he doesn't give a fuck about any systemically neglected communities. We've written about this before*.
Do you remember how Donald Trump said, "Make America Great Again" - objectively, this could sound like a good idea. For example, America should want to bring jobs back to the country (to increase employment and to bring jobs back where labour laws prevent exploitation of people in the way foreign governments might not).
But that's not what MAGA really meant. MAGA became a rallying call for yt supremacists who thought; pregnant people should be forced to give birth; climate change is debatable; were anti-2SLGBTQQIA; were anti-immigration –Trump rode that populism (see #OCPDefines for a definition) wave to the point of starting an insurrection that his MAGA followers showed up for.
So do we think Canada is rife with inequities? Yes.
Do we agree with or support Pierre - no, babes, we don't.
Pierre Poilievre is a Maple-Coated Donald Trump
Trump was obnoxious and overt in his bigotry and bullshit. So it was easy to be like, "yeah, that's not for me," but in typical Canadian fashion, Pierre is covert in his bigotry and bullshit. And that is terrifying.
Because while Trudeau thinks he's playing checkers, Pierre and the far-right movement have been playing chess for years while telling people they are playing checkers.
We saw it with the misogynist tags in his Youtube videos - a calling card inviting people who are part of a dangerous manosphere (anti-women) to join his cause. We see it in his antisemitic conspiracies around the World Economic Forum. We see it in his masterful whataboutism and his rejection of science, equity, and evidence.
He's improved on Trump's evil by ensuring that how he shows up is much more discreet. On the surface level, his populist statements sound correct, but his loyalties aren't to the everyday person or even the country, but rather, to further the agenda of himself, his donors, big businesses, the far-right and more.
But Trudeau shouldn't be sugarcoating Canada's systemic failures, either
Today, more and more people are experiencing Canada's social inequities - whether in the designed collapse of our public healthcare and education systems or the gaping income inequity and the rising cost of living.
The thing is, this isn't new. Systems don't collapse overnight; inequities don't arise out of nowhere. Rather, they have been there from the beginning because policies are often designed with gaps.
From the jump, the foundation of these systems are incomplete because the goal is (wrongly) about supporting most people rather than all. This makes sense when you remember that historically, we haven't all always been considered people.
These systemically neglected communities have been saying that these systems are broken, but we're only talking about it now because - quite frankly - white people are falling through more and more of these gaps.
He said - he said
Look, do we think Trudeau is doing enough? No.
Do we think Pierre Poilievre is the answer -fuck no.
If you value human rights and believe in meeting the basic needs of all people in a wealthy country (better housing, public transit, public education, public healthcare, livable wages, a livable planet, etc.,) - then the Conservative party is not the answer.
Because the biggest problem with Pierre is that his intent behind "it feels like everything is broken in this country right now" isn't about supporting people who are systemically neglected and addressing broken systems they're left to navigate.
Pierre's intent is to strengthen his case for Prime Minister by shitting on Trudeau.
And Trudeau's intent in saying "Canada isn't broken" is to defend his leadership and ensure confidence in his continued ability to lead as Prime Minister.
So neither one of these leaders is talking about what people are actually experiencing.
So, who should be speaking to whether or not Canada is broken?
So if you want to know who should be speaking on whether or not Canada is broken, it's not wealthy white dudes; it's the people who have historically (and ongoingly) been fighting to survive in a system that has excluded them from the jump, aka:
Black People
Indigenous People
Trans People
Disabled people
People of Colour
Queer community
Non-English/French speaking people
Immigrants, Migrants and Refugees.
Low-Income People.
People whose home countries experienced colonization
Women
Non-Christians
These are the communities who are being failed by Canada, which actually makes them the most qualified to speak on what Canada is like.
So no, Trudeau shouldn’t be claiming that our country is not broken - doing so is an erasure of the historical and ongoing systemic neglect that so many communities in Canada experience.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of Canada's systemic failures that both the Liberals and Conservatives have contributed to
Instead of a general argument about whether Canada is 'broken' or not, why don't we talk about the specific, big issues that marginalized folk have been getting loud about for years.
The climate emergency that needs less talk of long-term targets and more immediate action
Truth and Reparations about Canada's participation in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the deeply embedded anti-Black racism that stems from it
Indigenous Justice: 81 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Report, 231 Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into the MMIWG2S
Our crumbling public systems - like healthcare and education
Incomplete healthcare system: Mental Health resources are not free, pharmacare is not covered
Cell phone bills and internet bills are ridiculously high
Oligarchies in essential services like telecomms and grocery stores
Housing crisis: both of unhoused people and lack of affordable housing in general
Gender-Based Violence, including MMIWG2S
Unsafe online spaces and rising racism and hate IRL
Disability justice
Lack of livable wages and a comprehensive social safety net
Final Thoughts
Having two wealthy white men make overly simplistic claims like 'is Canada broken' while carefully avoiding mentioning what aspects are broken, who is being harmed the most, or what needs to be done is not helpful.
Pierre claiming the system is broken while failing marginalized communities and backing oppressive policies which will only reinforce inequities is bullshit.
And Trudeau sugarcoating the state of our country while erasing the history of racism and colonization and its present-day impacts on our systems causes harm by allowing those inequalities to continue to be perpetuated.
Canadians don't need a thinly veiled pissing contest between two wealthy white cis-men to decide whether Canada is broken - we know it is because so many of us live in the rubble.
What we need is leadership and collaboration to address the problems.
Next Steps: Stay Engaged
It can be incredibly frustrating when we don't see ourselves, or our issues, properly represented in politics. But that doesn't mean our lives aren't political.
So even though politics and politicians can be so fucking annoying, it doesn't change the fact that this is the system we are currently in. If we're tired of politicians playing games with our lives, country and planet, then we, the people, must engage in this system to demand change.
We have to course-correct these politicians and get them to focus on what we know is important - upholding the human rights of all people in Canada and meeting the basic needs of everyone living in Canada. Other countries are doing it better than we are - so it isn't impossible to demand.
We need you to engage in our system. We need you to participate in our democracy, even though our politicians seem to ghost us unless it's election season (as they slide into our inboxes with the equivalent of a "you up?"). We need you to demand better of Canada, and better for the people in it.
On Canada Project is an opposing force to the hate, division, fake news and anti-human right rhetoric spread by the Pierre Poilievre, the Jordan Petersons, and far-right/yt supremacists.
Most people in this country care about human rights; what we are missing is an understanding of the systemic inequities that violate human rights in this country. But how can we change that if we can't name it or explain it?
On Canada Project works to invite people into critical conversations about human rights and the future of our country, world and planet by sharing that missing context with a critical and compassionate lens.
We know that alone we can't change anything but that we could be a force to be reckoned with by inviting more people into this fight for human rights and collective liberation.
We are your community, and you are ours. So if you can, please consider a community investment of sorts by contributing $5/month via Buy Us A Coffee.
