Canada Day has come and gone for another year. The moment of collective celebration of a great nation recedes, and we return to the important business of earning a living and having summer fun. However, as we retreat into our individual lives, we might ponder where our country is headed in this time of global crises. 

Canada’s greatness comes from its respect for diversity, its open spaces, its prosperity and freedom. Yet we are currently torn between a longing for a return to the guaranteed prosperity of the post-World War II era and the likelihood that the current rupture between Canada and the United States is permanent. 

The American Empire is crumbling, torn apart by political, racial and economic polarization, a rapid decline in its adherence to democracy and the rule of law, and an addiction to militarism that has created enormous financial debt. The American president frequently thumbs his nose at Canada and invites it to become the 51st state. What a folly that would be to accept the offer!

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Prime Minister Mark Carney recognizes that the rupture with the U.S. is likely permanent. However, his solution is to replicate in our country the very characteristics that brought America to its current state. Prior to entering politics, Carney wrote a fine book, Value(s): Building a Better World for All, in which he traced the inhumanity of “market fundamentalism” and touted the importance of sustainability, immigration, a decentralized economy, moral values, humility and other “soft” contributions to the national fabric.

Once he came to office, albeit amid the Trump-imposed crisis, he did an about-face, buying into the failing model of bigger-is-better and emphasizing mega-projects, resource extraction, military expansion and increased national debt. Carney is right to try to protect Canada’s sovereignty and Canadian jobs, but his method appears to have thrown value(s) out the window in favour of an unimaginative approach to development the world must strive to overcome.

If Carney really were the economist-with-a-difference that he earlier proclaimed to be, he would ditch the idol of never-ending economic growth and unsupportable debt that lies behind today’s crises. Then, he would promote economic and social equality, renewable resource development and sustainability, leading to a better world for all.

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His program would reduce the horrendous cost of post-secondary education, making it more widely available and boosting Canada’s long-term potential for innovation. He would build ties with countries that, while perhaps not economically powerful, are notable for their generosity and emphasis on the communal good.

Carney has, in theory, recognized that the best things in life are not measurable and that an ever-expanding GDP does not lead to happiness. However, his actions point to an underlying commitment at variance with his publicly stated beliefs. He says he must deal with the world as it is, rather than as we wish it to be. Yet history is scattered with the bones of those whose only ethic was pragmatism and power. The trains ran on time, but humanity was diminished by their “successes.”

The world we wish will never emerge unless our leaders are motivated above all by high ideals rather than by survival and conquest.

Canada’s biggest challenges are moral. How can we claim to be a morally decent country when many people sleep on the streets while others have two or three homes, where Indigenous people still await fair treatment in every aspect of life, where people are “free” to kill themselves or their unborn children in medically supervised institutions? Why do we build for war when we should be enhancing the prospects for peace? Why do we sacrifice the economic and environmental futures of our children and grandchildren so we can maintain an extravagant way of life today?

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The philosopher Simone Weil argued that the most important spiritual need is rootededness. “A human being is rooted through their real, active and natural participation in the life of a collectivity that keeps alive treasures of the past and has aspirations for the future.” We have a deep need to be part of a tradition greater than the desires of any individual.

In her view, the quest for the almighty dollar is a poison that uproots and divides a people. Everyone requires a living wage, but we know that one’s income above a modest level does nothing to increase their happiness. More important is a sense of meaning. Value and values are crucial to human happiness. However, a focus solely on economic production will not get us there. There are better ways.