In the late summer of 1867, Germany’s Otto von Bismarck was interviewed by the St. Petersburgische Zeitung, a German-language newspaper in Russia. On the heels of victory in Austria, and well on the way to the unification of the German empire, Bismarck spoke of the necessity of balancing domestic political interests with the increasing skepticism of northern Germany’s neighbours (France, in particular), and understanding that political opposition will always mean setting aside the ideal policy for that which is attainable.
“Politics is the art of the possible,” said the chancellor, not only enshrining the notions of compromise and pragmatism as the ultimate goal of any Western policy agenda, but giving every politician thereafter an escape clause from answering to their own constituencies.
Bismarck, at the time, was speaking of statecraft, warfare and settling territorial interests. More than 150 years later and thousands of miles away, the Liberal Party of Canada—that “naturally governing” party of existential pragmatists—finds itself permanently locked into negotiating away the public interest. Not with external forces or massive political opposition, mind you, but through its own inscrutable tendency to discard public goodwill (and even its own election mandates) under pressure from the interests of capital.
See, for example, Canada’s current environmental policy. According to an Abacus poll in March, 83 per cent of Canadians report being concerned about climate change, and nearly half consider climate change to be among their top five policy issues leading into this year’s election. This, as wildfires continue to force thousands of residents out of their homes and tinge the skies with a choking orange haze.
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See Also:
(1) Chrétien proposes cancelling Meng’s extradition case to unfreeze relations with China (Paywall)
(2) China issues warning after Canada raises concerns over planned extradition law
(3) Report warns Trudeau’s carbon tax will go up a lot
(4) Poor Justin Trudeau, lost and looking for a place to turn
