Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is right.

The prime minister is correct when he says there is “a rupture in the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsh reality.”

He is accurate when he responds to Donald Trump’s taunts by saying, “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”

Mr. Carney is right in his observation that “There are billions of people who aspire to what we have built: a pluralistic society that works.” And, as he went on to say, “It’s a great country for everyone. It is the greatest country in the world to be a regular person. You don’t have to be born rich, or to a landed family. You don’t have to be a certain color or worship a certain god,”

What are those Canadian values the prime minister speaks of?

I have had the privilege of spending a month traveling through Canada’s eastern provinces, meeting people and listening to their stories. I have been to Toronto to attend academic conferences. During national disasters, I have worked with Canadians from all walks of life who responded to the needs of U.S. citizens. My most cherished time was spent in British Columbia. The friendships I have made, the history, and the news I read from various reputable sources allow me to make the following observations of Canadian values.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms emphasizes a commitment to democracy, social justice, and public safety. On this foundation rest the pillars of equality, multiculturalism, diversity, human rights, and social justice. Canadians value and respect the law; the emphasis is on politeness and peace. When Canadians speak about peace, they mean that for both themselves and the international community. Another value is environmental sustainability.

Canada is imperfect. Human nature doesn’t allow any country to be flawless. I find it difficult to return to the States after being in Canada. The maddening rush, the impoliteness, the noisy rush, the constant pursuit of materialism, and the socio-economic divisions that undermine human rights create a tense atmosphere. In this Trumpian age, the fault lines in the States are accentuated.

The murder of Renee Good and the extrajudicial execution of Alex Pretti, the harassment, assault, and tactics for capturing people for the color of their skin and the language they speak by armed and masked agents have left me outraged, tearing at my spirit.

I am repulsed by the white supremacists, Christian nationalists, the lawlessness of the federal government, the breakdown of common rules and the normative rules of governing. The Trumpian atmosphere is infusing the spirit of those living in the States with the passions of malignant contempt, vengeance, self-gratification, greed, enmity, and resentment. There is a vindictive passion framing every policy decision, which has polluted our political and judicial institutions. Civil discourse has given way to the Hobbesian and John Locke-inspired system of selfish morals. Such a system has brought us to the point of, to use Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s word, rupture.

Human beings, by our very nature, cannot subsist without gathering into communities, an agreed-upon association for mutual benefit protected by laws of equity and justice that guard both the individual’s and communal rights. To observe justice and to guard the rights of the people are strong necessities of government, if not moral obligations. The Framers of the Constitution valued restraining the government. We are witnessing the suspension of this understanding— the equity or justice that is now restrained by an uncultivated nature of immorality and unethical behavior.

What will be the long-term effect of the current crisis, the Trumpian disregard for the laws of justice? Why do citizens accept the Trumpian conduct, the rupture of civil and human rights, the violations of established rules for stability as normative? The only answer I have for this is selfishness and the absence of reason. Self-interest is placed above the common good. The end result will be more disorder.

As The New York Times columnist David French observes, “…the more hatred permeates our society, the more unstable it becomes. We are creating the conditions for a catastrophe.”  

How do we end the division, this tearing of the national fabric, this rupture? Personally, I blame both the Republican and Democratic leadership. I place little hope in the up-coming election, or the election of 2028. There is too much talk of obtaining power by both political parties, and insufficient talk of a vision for restoring unity, mending the rupture.

Our hope for the future, to confront the Trumpian policies of discord, lies in our past. The examples of the Civil Rights Movement, the peaceful anti-Vietnam protests, the volunteer service of past generations, the bipartisan civility in conducting debates, and the policies that resulted in benefits for all Americans and the international community. Today, to use the words of Lydia Polgreen, a New York Times columnist, we are “untethered from our communities and neighbors.” We are making false choices that will result in a civil war.

But, as Mr. Carney reminds us, “Nostalgia for the past is not a strategy.” However, we can learn from the past in how to move forward.  

Today, we stand at the edge of the Rubicon that the Trumpians are pushing us to cross. The choice is ours whether to take that step. The citizens of Minnesota have given their answer. They and Prime Minister Carney and Canadians have shone a light into our darkness by standing up to Trump and his sycophants.

The choice is ours. We either have the courage to be a pluralistic society that works, serving everyone, mend the rupture, or we allow ourselves to self-destruct. Our democracy either works or it doesn’t. We, the people, must decide and will decide. Whatever choice we make, the experience of living in the States can never be the same.

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    Photograph: Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a news conference before a cabinet planning forum at the Citadelle in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Mathieu