What the Right Kind of Nationalism Sounds Like.
Justin Trudeau gives an international lesson in leadership.
Canadian fans at the 2022 World Cup in Doha. There’s often a jokey tone to displays of nationalism from the US’s neighbor to the north, as if in contrast to “USA! USA!”-style braggadocio. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in deadly earnest last night when describing Canada’s national interests, in a speech that deserves attention outside his own country. Starting with the United States. (Photo by Youssef Loulidi/Fantasista/Getty Images.)
No prominent US Republican has dared call Donald Trump’s tariffs on America’s two closest neighbors, which are also its two largest trading partners, exactly what those measures are.
Namely: punitive, destructive, treaty-breaking, alliance-destroying, self-defeating, impulsive, and otherwise Nero-like.
-The silence or active complicity from the MAGA party is dumbfounding but predictable. For a representative dumbbell sample, please consider today’s comments from a GOP Senator, Eric Schmitt of Missouri. It’s not me calling arguments like his, for a trade war against Canada and Mexico, “the dumbest in history.” It’s the WSJ editorial page.
-Elected Democratic leaders, no doubt overwhelmed by the firestorm of abuse-of-power measures under Trump and Musk in these past two weeks, have not spoken out nearly as forcefully and clearly as they should, or as the times demand.
So who has spoken out, eloquently and clearly and bravely?
I give you the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. After more than nine years in office, Trudeau is on the downslope of popularity and has announced his upcoming resignation. But during a short live-TV presentation last night, he became this hemisphere’s spokesman for common sense, common purpose, and the right kind of steely, principled nationalism. Let’s look briefly at his speech.
What he said, and why it mattered.
You can see Trudeau’s 12-minute speech last night, and the 20-minute Q-and-A that followed, in the video below from CPAC, a Canadian counterpart to C-Span.
The Q-A session is excellent, including the seamless shifts by reporters and Trudeau between French and English. For instance you can skip to time 21:40 and hear Trudeau ad-lib in English about the oddity of the current situation:
“I think a lot of Canadians are a little perplexed about why our closest friends and neighbors are choosing to target us…. I don’t think there’s a lot of Americans who wake up in the morning saying [US yokel accent]: ‘Oh, Damn Canada! We should really go after Canada!’”
But the first 12 minutes of the video, with his prepared remarks, are the heart of this presentation. You will find the whole text, from the CBC, here. I found four elements striking. Each is a harder-than-it-seems achievement in rhetoric.
1) The speech was emotional, without being mawkish.
For heads of state, a routine part of speech-making is a reference to “ties that bind,” “eternal bonds of shared sacrifice,” “blood we have spilled together,” and so on. The trick is doing so in a way that doesn’t sound formulaic or just playing for pathos.
Trudeau pulled this off very well. Early in his speech, in a deadpan rather than melodramatic way, he detailed why it was so galling for Canadians to have the US classify them as a foe. Rather than as perhaps its closest proven friend:
“As President John F. Kennedy said many years ago, "Geography has made us neighbours, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners and necessity has made us allies." [Citations from JFK are a dime a dozen, the easiest thing to plug into a speech. So, respect to Trudeau and his team for using a non-cliched quotation, which also is directly relevant to the circumstances.]
“That rang true for many decades prior to President Kennedy's time in office and the decades since.
“From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar, we have fought and died alongside you during your darkest hours. [These words delivered without melodrama, but clearly and deliberately said.]
“-During the Iranian hostage crisis, those 444 days, we worked around the clock from our embassy to get your innocent compatriots home. [Beginning a very specific list of ways Canadians have come to America’s aid and rescue.]
“-During the summer of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged your great city of New Orleans, or mere weeks ago [!!!], when we sent water bombers to tackle the wildfires in California.
“-During the day the world stood still — Sept. 11, 2001 — when we provided refuge to stranded passengers and planes, we were always there, standing with you, grieving with you, the American people.”
This passage doesn’t end, “What are you possibly thinking, to take this ungrateful, asshole step?” But, very calmly, that’s what it says.
2) The speech was clear and explanatory, without being pedantic or condescending.
At the start of the speech Trudeau addressed a US audience, trying to explain what the tough-guy talk about tariffs and trade war would actually mean. This was a clearer job of explication than we’ve heard from most politicians in the US:
“I want to speak directly to Americans, our closest friends and neighbours.
“This is a choice that yes, will harm Canadians. But beyond that, it will have real consequences for you, the American people.
“-As I have consistently said, tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities.
“-They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery stores and gas at the pump.
“-They will impede your access to an affordable supply of vital goods crucial for U.S. security such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum.
“-They will violate the free trade agreement that the president and I, along with our Mexican partner, negotiated and signed a few years ago.” [Trudeau rarely used this president’s name in his presentation.]
Trudeau said all this in calm-explanatory tone, not as threats. He addressed his American listeners as friends, who were about to experience unnecessary hardship.
3) The speech was strong and firm, without being bullying or inflammatory.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick” is of course a US saying. It could have been the sub-text of everything Trudeau said last night.
-His tone [“speak softly”] was never hostile or exasperated. He emphasized countless times that the two countries had been, and would be, the closest of allies and friends.
-His message [“big stick”] was that his country was going to stand up, and fight back. It would apply its own tariffs. It would use other “non-tariff” tools (like restricting access to supplies and minerals the US really needs—details below)1. Trudeau himself urged Canadian shoppers to “buy Canadian”—and specifically to pass up “orange juice from Florida” and Kentucky bourbon. He listed other categories of US exports that would be penalized in Canada. Around the same time as the speech, the premier of British Columbia specifically banned “red state” American liquor from the province’s state-run liquor stores.
Everybody will lose in the resulting trade war. But Trudeau’s message was that his country would stand its ground.
4) The speech was nationalistic, in the best way.
Nearly every country has a “national story” and a national dream. Of the three big countries in North America—Canada, the US, and Mexico—the US is distinctive, among other ways, for the in-your-face version of its national identity. Our countrymen famously chant “USA! USA!” at international sports contests. We casually talk about the “American dream.” Every president in almost every speech is obliged to declare that the United States is the greatest country on Earth. (I know. I’ve written some of these.)
We don’t expect that from Canadians. Which is why the conclusion of Trudeau’s prepared remarks last night was so unexpected and powerful.