Canada vs. the US: On Our Political Cultures

I'll take any opportunity I can to read, hear, talk, or learn about the politics of any country but America's politics has a tendency to aggravate, confound, and disturb me. When I look at politics down there and up here I can't help but feel relieved and grateful that I live in Canada. Indeed, American politics is far more exciting. The Canadian political scene is largely seen as dry and boring. But it is in these natures that I find my preference for our ways.

American politics is largely about entertainment. It's show business. It has a cast of quirky, crazy characters with scripts of deceits, betrayals, epic conflicts and high-drama. And most importantly its funded with billions of dollars. Of course Canadian politics (with our $1,000 donation limits, corporate and union donor bans, PMs like Stephen Harper, and Leaders of the Opposition like Nicole Turmel) seems very un-exciting in comparison.

The battle between Barack Obama and the “do-nothing” Congress is of great interest to many. Obama is characterized by the right as a socialist trying to thrust his agenda of government control of citizens on the American people through scary propositions like universal healthcare coverage. In Canada, this idea is defended wholeheartedly (almost as a right) by all main federal and provincial parties. Disagreements largely revolve around public vs. private involvement in our universal system.

The Republican party is demonized by the left as the party of white millionaires and evangelicals who want to set back woman’s rights and hate gays. While the Republican party, as one of two parties representing the political compass, is home to some with extreme views and great wealth, so is the Democratic Party. Issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage are far too complex to demonize any side of the argument; there are legitimate, real, and important factors involved in people reaching the conclusions that they do regarding these sensitive issues.

With the hyper-partisan, high-drama, slanderous nature of American politics it seems all to easy to simply discount the opposing side and engage in rhetoric with one's own. The result is a system where very little ever gets done and a hell of a lot gets said. It's all talk no action where it counts and loads of Hollywood-style action in the way of sound-bytes and controversies.

Canadian politics may be kind of dry and boring but things get done here. The things that get done don't get noticed as much precisely because most people accept them. Our system operates on a great deal of consensus. While our political parties certainly find enough to disagree on come election time they tend to govern remarkably similar to one another because all parties have coalesced around certain principles (indeed some of them, in action, stray from these principles) such as fiscal responsibility and universal healthcare.

Our constitution legislates “peace, order, and good governance” the US has “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. This is highly appropriate to our political cultures. The American tripartite motto is about the sweeping, dramatic, and philosophical. It is beautiful and meaningful but highly impractical to translate into real-world governance. Ours is bland but practical. Policy is easily constructed around it and its interpretations result in little disagreement.

Our political culture may even be less accessible, hence the lack of understanding. I'll take it any day though. I don't want to live in a country where people hate you as soon as they know your politics. I like living in a country where people can disagree on politics but understand they both have the best interest of their country at heart. Sometimes I fear us moving towards American-style polarization and deadlock but I think it is too built into our political culture to be different. I'm thankful we're boring!