How Trump’s tariffs are reinvigorating Canadian nationalism
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On March 4, Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods. The tariffs, coupled with Trump’s threats of making Canada the fifty-first state, were met with disdain by most Canadians, and also a pleasantly surprising rise in Canadian nationalism.
As a result of this sense of betrayal from their American counterparts, many Canadians have formed a political community based on their shared resentment towards the U.S. A poll from the Angus Reid Institute found that Canadian national pride rose ten per cent, from 34 per cent in December to 44 per cent in January after the tariffs were announced.
“I have more resistance to the official and formal structures of Canada. However, I do think that it creates room for social solidarity and disobedience among citizens,” said Krissy Kloss, a political science student at UVic.
Canadian nationalism has existed for as long as we have been neighbours with the U.S. Students who have taken POLI 101: Canadian Politics may remember watching a Molson beer commercial in which a man walks on a stage and passionately yells: “I have a prime minister, not a president!” and “It’s pronounced Zed, not Zee! ZED!” This commercial demonstrates how as Canadians, one of our main sources of pride comes from the fact that we aren’t American.
“I don’t think I come from a place of having a lot of national solidarity to begin with,” said Anna, another UVic student.
It’s important to remain critical of universal Canadian nationalism — there isn’t much pride to be taken in a country that exists on stolen land, was founded in genocide, and where the average salary isn’t enough to buy a house.
In addition, Canadian nationalism became even more unattractive to many after the concept was hijacked by the far-right “Freedom Convoy” — truckers protesting the vaccine mandates imposed by the Canadian government — a few years ago.
“In the twenty-first century, there wasn’t so much of a public demonstration and articulation of Canadian nationalism as there had been before, which left it vulnerable to be co-opted by the Freedom Convoy,” said Dr. Justin Leifso, a political science professor at UVic who specializes in Canadian politics.
During the protest, truckers were seen proudly displaying Canadian flags.
“You would have these superficial symbols of nationalism that were being advertised next to reactionary American symbology: the ‘Don’t tread on me’ flag, the confederate flag, and the Trump campaign flag. That is completely contradictory to what Canadian nationalism had [previously] been, which always had been about distinguishing ourselves from the United States. And I thought this was the way it was going to be, until the stuff with the tariffs happened,” said Leifso.
As America continues to make unpredictable political moves, it is now more important than ever that Canadians find pride in our differences from the U.S., so that we don’t end up with unelected billionaires running our government, and discriminatory policies based on arbitrary fears.
“How do we build an idea of what Canada is that doesn’t erase and displace … Indigenous peoples and nations?” said Leifso.
“It is crucial as we … resist … to always be mindful of exactly what it is we’re defending, exactly what it is we’re standing for, and what is the foundation upon which these new expressions of nationalism are being built,” Leifso said.
