Open and Shut/

Open & Shut: A U.S.-Canadian Political Debate

An open letter from John Ibbitson:


Welcome to Open & Shut: The Forum — your opportunity to advance the Canadian agenda.

You and I are embarking on an experiment unlike anything tried before. Last January, I set out to write a short, sharp book comparing the state of American and Canadian politics in the wake of last year’s elections.

The result was Open & Shut: Why America Has Barack Obama and Canada Has Stephen Harper. I finished it in March and publisher McClelland & Stewart had it in bookstores by the first week of May, which must be some kind of record.

Open & Shut argues that Barack Obama’s election last November, and the opening weeks of his presidency, reveal the amazing resilience of America’s political culture, even after the disasters of the last eight years.

Canada’s 2008 federal election, in contrast, and the constitutional crisis that followed when the opposition parties almost succeeded in toppling Stephen Harper’s weak minority government, revealed that “Ottawa is in the midst of a crisis of competence,” as I write in Open and Shut. “The political class is a wraith of its former self. There is not a shadow of the statesman left in our politicians, nor much notion of public service in our public servants. The federal power is steadily weakening, losing legitimacy, surrendering a national vision to parochial interests.

“…This is a really good way to wreck a country.”

If you’ve read Open & Shut (and if you haven’t, you should!), you’ll know that the book doesn’t end with its last page. Instead, it invites you to come here. The Globe and Mail has partnered with McClelland & Stewart to create this forum. The goal is for readers to take up the themes and arguments raised in the book, and advance, modify, or even refute them.

To get things started, I’ve created three topics based on themes from the book. Each topic features a brief book excerpt, a summary of the argument as it appears in Open & Shut, and a question. You’ll also find an opening comment from three wise voices: Political analyst David Eaves, consultant and political strategist John Duffy, and Maryscott (known to all as Scotty) Greenwood, who consults and writes on Canada-U.S. issues.

We want to hear your answers to those questions, your thoughts on any or all of the three themes. We want to know where you think Canada is going and where you think it should go, both on its own terms and in terms of Canada-U.S. relations. Feel free to contribute your thoughts either by posting your comments in the applicable forum, or by editing the pages themselves using the built-in wiki tools.

I’ll be reading what you say, and commenting regularly both in the forums and in my blog on this site. And when the forum concludes, I’ll gather up the many thoughts and suggestions and write a report, which the Globe will publish in the newspaper and online.

So let’s get started. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.


John Ibbitson

Open America, Closed Canada

1) Thesis: America grew out of revolution; Canada evolved slowly from colony to country, without ever really coalescing as a nation. The Civil War ensured the primacy of the American federal government over the states; Canadian federalism remains conflicted and confused.

Question: Open and Shut argues that the American political system is more open to ideas and to outsiders, while in Canada, cloistered elites protect their power to manipulate Canada’s political parties. What, if anything, can and should we do to make party leaders open up their leadership process to the rest of us?

Discuss: Open Politics

Yes, Mr. President; No, Prime Minister

2) Thesis: One reason for the American political culture’s capacity for self-renewal is the openness of its public service, compared to its closed Canadian counterpart. The typical federal public servant is old and white and from Central Canada. The closed culture of the public service discourages outsiders, and its antiquated silo-based lines of responsibility alienate younger workers.

Question: Federal politicians, and federal public servants, seem increasingly remote and disconnected from the lives of Canadians. Open and Shut maintains that this is because the public service remains closed to outsiders, and because Ottawa has ceded so much power to the provinces. Do we want our federal government to matter more in our lives, and if so, what should we do to give it meaning?

Discuss: Open Government

A greater connection between Federal and Provincial programming and politicians ( joint ventures ) might bring them and their support staffs closer to the problems and needs experienced in cities and towns in Canada. To avoid rivalry of purpose/ power ( i.e. turf wars ), perhaps the municipalities should have a more directing role. This may require a Constitutional interpretation placing the municipality in a less dependant state vis a vis the provinces.

I want the federal government to be the fair arbitor between regions and creator of programming / regulation which only makes sense in national hands.

The Shutting of the Open Border

3) Thesis: Barack Obama’s postglobal approach to America in the world, and his determination to reduce reliance on fossil fuels while fighting global warming, all threaten to further thicken the Canada-U.S. border. Since our country has traditionally taken the lead in proposing joint initiatives, the time has come for Canada to propose a North American Environmental, Economic and Security Accord.

Question: Open and Shut argues that the solution to increasing American protectionism and mistrust over border security is for Canada to propose to the Americans a comprehensive, security, economic and environmental accord that will lead to much greater integration in all three areas. What do you think?

Discuss: Canada/U.S. Integration