1:  The Third Solitude

I’m Patrick Esmonde-White. Welcome to the trailer for Canada Re-imagined, season three: After the Cataclysm. For those new to my podcasts, these are audio essays that run a bit over 20 minutes, all part of a connected story arc.  

2025 is finally over. American democracy is in freefall. The drums of war are pounding. The global economy is tottering. The planet burns. The oceans fill with tears.  After eight decades on this blue planet, I explore glimmers of hope.  Despair is not a plan.

Three years ago, in the first season of Canada Re-imagined, I covered a wide range of issues on Canada’s future.  

One year ago, my second season looked how Canada can survive Donald Trump. Looking back, I believe my crystal ball was fairly accurate.

In this eight episode season of Canada Re-imagined, I will explore the reasons why Prime Minister Carney may be doomed to fail in his nation-building efforts, in spite of his best intentions. I will examine some of the key challenges ahead for Canada. Finally, I will argue that for Canada to survive the post-Trump cataclysm, he, or another leader, will have no alternative but to adopt truly radical change. Constitutional renovation… Indigenous restitution… Quebec sovereignty… and more.

If you enjoy my unconventional perspective on Canadian politics, please share my podcasts. I don’t use social media… life’s too short.  I need your help.  So thanks.

And now: Episode 1…The Third Solitude

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Let me to start with a personal perspective. I became hooked on politics in the mid-1950’s.  Yes, not normal. I have spent the subsequent seven decades observing Canada, wondering how we got to where we are, and where the future lies.  I also got involved.

Before Pierre Trudeau became Justice Minister in 1966, I was hired as his Ottawa assistant. Not many teenage university students had a boss who was as cool, as relatable. He was a generationally different politician. The following year, Canada celebrated the centennial, and the FLQ continued its terror campaign. A political storm was clearly coming.   

Today, another storm is upon us.  Between Trump, climate change, and the arms race, a global crisis is unavoidable.  In my mind, Canada can learn from some of the mistakes made by Pierre Trudeau, and get through this storm.  

Here’s my unconventional perspective.

An early believer, I was the assistant campaign manager on Trudeau’s 1968 leadership campaign. He emerged from a heated race as the guy with an answer to the crisis of the day: Québec separatism. 

Our first job was to win at the convention. Our plan, which has never been revealed, was to plant volunteers in the crowd with instructions to mob our candidate. We created chaos. It worked. Trudeau won by the narrowest of margins, and the following day Trudeaumania went viral beyond our wildest dreams. 

Trudeau’s solution to Québec turned out to be simple: stop the terror or else; we will pay handsomely; and you stay in Canada. Alberta unwittingly picked up the tab. 

The War Measures Act, which I opposed, defeated the FLQ. Bilingualism was quickly made law. Transfer payments flowed through Ottawa. Yet even so, separatists almost won a referendum.  

Trudeau’s big move was the 1982 Constitution Act. To appease Québec, he included a “notwithstanding” clause that allowed provinces to ignore anything they dislike. Québec was never satisfied. A second referendum soon followed, and also failed. Yet over the years, the sovereignty dream has not died. It is now coming out of hibernation.

From my perspective, with hindsight, Trudeau’s strategy had three flaws. He underestimated the First Nations. He alienated the west. And he did not update federal-provincial responsibilities.&