It goes without saying that the recent federal election did not end as I had hoped for, but instead of looking in the rear-view mirror, one must appreciate the silver linings that have emerged.
While acknowledging the separatist rumblings in both Alberta and Quebec, the country has experienced a bout of patriotism that hasn’t been evident for some time. It was only a few short years ago that our government wouldn’t fly our flag on our national holiday and Canadians were shamed on a regular basis for the sins of our forefathers. Our apologies and daily acts of contrition were not enough to end the legacy of colonialism and oppression that had come to define our nation.
Then we experienced the ultimate in election interference, thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump. By all accounts, the ballot question should have been how to build a more prosperous country after a decade of economic decline. Instead, the ballot question oddly turned into a referendum about Trump. Canadians, in a grand act of patriotism, voted for the guy they thought could stand up to the bogeyman south of the border.
While going door to door, I reflected on the houses proudly displaying Canadian flags. By and large, house after house, those displaying large flags were voting Liberal. This was a new development since the proud display of the Canadian flag had, until the election, been reserved for those who supported the trucker convoy. Now, the truckers are proudly joined by Liberals in standing up for the sovereignty of our country.
It appears that our experiment as a post-nationalist state has concluded. We can once again be proud to be Canadians.
Hopefully now our government can get out of the apology business and maybe try the governing business for a change. We can also finally dispense with the colonialist oppressor theme that took our country down so many useless rabbit holes. We can stop the intellectually dishonest pastime of renaming schools and streets as a way of demonstrating our commitment to a more just society. We can stop virtue-signalling and trying to rewrite history. Maybe on July 1st of this year, we will celebrate the great experiment of Canada.
Perhaps Sir John A. Macdonald can be resurrected and removed from the metaphorical and physical box he has been put in and restored to his place as our country’s first prime minister, who connected this country from sea-to-sea.
To quote American philosopher Eric Hoffer, “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” Let us hope that the colonialist, oppressor, equity-seeking, trigger-inducing experiment that has degenerated into a racket can also be put in the rear-view mirror so that our schools can go back to teaching and our workplaces back to producing. In this new world, we can start identifying as Canadians and not by gender, race, sexual orientation or ethnicity.
The cynic might think that the Liberals exploited Canadian nationalism to simply get re-elected. If that were in fact the case, they now have a problem. Nationalism can’t be turned on and off like water from a tap. Canadians have rediscovered their pride and it is vastly better than shame.
There is also the fact that the new prime minister has gone to great lengths in a short time to re-establish ties to our colonial past by asking King Charles to give the speech from the throne when Parliament resumes. In this act, Carney sends a strong message that Canada and Canadians are proud of our place in the Commonwealth and its ties to the monarchy.
It will be the first time in over 40 years that a monarch has given such a speech here. Hopefully, someone discussed the matter in advance with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, or at the very least, saved her a seat.
Canada was never for sale but over the past 10 years the Liberal government has tried to discount its value. If there is a silver lining in the past election, maybe it is remembering what it is like to be proud to be Canadian.
Special to National Post
Karen Stintz was the Conservative candidate for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the April 28, 2025 federal election. She is the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal.
