The Goofy, Uncool Genius of Canada

Hello Everyone,

In honour of our national holiday, here's a piece I wrote about us.

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Great political leaders are often compared to chess players. Successful politicians are said to 'see several moves ahead', achieving their goals through circuitous routes. Other times the comparison is made that politician X is playing chess while politician Y is playing checkers, indicating the former is a deeper thinker and plans further in advance.

There is also a tendency within this use of metaphor to see autocratic leaders or those with a negative force as chess masters. Trump supporters, early in the primaries, said he was playing '4D chess' with his opponents. He would say or do seemingly incomprehensible things, only to rise in the polls, justifying this view of him. Perhaps the archetype of this kind of politician is Vladimir Putin. He's portrayed as a puppet master, pulling geopolitical strings to arrange affairs to suit his aims. Weakening NATO, invading Ukraine, undermining democracy so that he can stay in power. But I'd like to make the case for a different kind of political chess master. Rather than the evil politician in a designer suit, getting rich off corruption and graft, I think the ultimate political chess masters have been the generations of terrifically uncool Canadian politicians in poorly fitting suits, bad haircuts and awkward mannerisms. They might not strike you as political geniuses, but hear me out. What makes a chess master so good is the idea of seeing many moves ahead. Only at the end of the game do you see the reason for his or her earlier decisions. Well, take a look at where we are now as a country, and now look back at the decisions our politicians have made. There is nothing inherent or inevitable in our current standing, we were not destined to be a rich, peaceful country. It is the result of decisions we've made. People who fawn over the supposed brilliance of a manipulator like Putin forget that he's not so smart as to have been able to make his country prosperous, peaceful and resilient. They might argue that that has not been is goal. Fine, but enriching yourself instead of the country is the easier of the two challenges. Lots of people get rich. Not many countries have been as successful as Canada. Further, look where we are headed. In 50 years' time, Canada will have a larger population, larger economy, and will be better positioned to handle whatever calamities or changes that happen between now and then. Why is that? Because we've made ours an open and tolerant society. That may not sound impressive, it's not some puppet master move, but it is nonetheless brilliant. For generations now, we have chosen the path of openness and tolerance, while others have chosen rigid adherence to nationalism, or some other ideology. Someone like Putin may see us as wishy-washy and weak. But that's what makes us, and our political leaders, chess masters. We've played the move that looks stupid on the face of it (multiculturalism will only weaken our national culture!), only to look back on it years later as a masterstroke. Immigration? A source of renewal and innovation. Free trade? A source of new ideas and competition. Adherence to rules? A source of stability. So, on this day of our country's founding, I'd like to pay tribute to those who came before me who made the smart, not-at-all obvious choice to embrace openness and tolerance.

Happy Canada Day.

wes