FEELING BLEAK MID-WINTER
Kathleen Wynne
In 1872 Christina Rossetti wrote a poem she entitled ‘A Christmas Carol’. Most of us who spent the Sundays of our youth and childhood in a church know the text of the poem as the lyrics to the carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’:
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone,
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago….
It is also the title of an episode of Peaky Blinders to “describe wintry conditions as a metaphor for a harsh spiritual landscape.”
I am not writing this to explore the spirituality of the moment. I think, as a Liberal in Canada right now it is a reflection of my state of mind so it is more the political zeitgeist than seasonal spirituality that seems relevant.
Since the shock of Chrystia Freeland’s letter on Monday morning, December 16th, the airwaves of Canadian media have tracked little else. Every commentator is looking for insights into why and how and what comes next, understandably.
Reporters have asked me how these decisions get made; when leaders know to step down. Should the PM step down? Will the PM step down? When will the PM step down?
I, of course, have no definitive answers to these questions, nor would it be my place to dictate to the sitting Prime Minister. But here is what I know:
Chrystia Freeland must have been beyond frustrated by whatever had gone on in her portfolio and in government to write that letter. Yes, it is a strong letter and in fact I believe it sets her up to enter a leadership race should one happen before an election, but more than that it demonstrates the breakdown of one of the most important relationships in Canadian politics today. Freeland was key to the federal government’s negotiation of the revised free trade agreement during Trump’s first term in office. She has been loyal to the Prime Minister through difficult junctures when others were quick to criticize. So, whatever has been happening behind the scenes, and we in the public will never hear every nitty gritty detail, the rupture is real, serious and probably irreparable.
Inevitably, Freeland’s resignation has elicited spirited critique of Trudeau’s feminism. And maybe what happened between Trudeau and Freeland had an undertone of sexism. I don’t think we can know that at this point and we know that there will be more than one perspective on that. I am the last person to deny the existence of ongoing, systemic misogyny in politics and across society. It will be interesting to hear Chrystia’s take on that when the dust has settled but in this moment, I think she did what she believed she needed to do demonstrating considerable strength.
It is extremely important for the country, never mind the Liberal Party of Canada, that there be real and visible stability in Ottawa quickly. Every day that we flounder focusing on the fortunes of one man or the machinations of leadership hopefuls, is a day that we are not focusing on the clear and present threat from south of the border. I can only imagine that the people around the President-elect would be happy for our government to be in disarray as they take control of the reins of power. As Premier of Ontario, I was involved in the early conversations with governors and members of Congress during the first round of trade discussions and it took the attention of both federal and provincial governments to keep conversations on track. We cannot be vigilant if we continue to be distracted.
We also need to acknowledge that there has been very little, if any, progress on the pressing domestic issues confronting us: changing climate, housing, cost of living, health care, as we have allowed ourselves to be drawn day after day into the politics of division, slogan and contempt.
Finally, whatever decision the Prime Minister makes in the coming days, he is a human being who has worked hard to do his best for the people of Canada. As did Stephen Harper, as did Brian Mulroney and as did Paul Martin, Jean Chretien and their predecessors.
It’s hard for me to watch Question Period in the House of Commons or watch a media scrum without empathizing with the politician on the hotseat. I rejoice when I hear an elected official truly attempt to answer the question asked. I despair when there is no attempt to do so.
In my lifetime, all 71 years of it, I have never experienced a time when the political debate has been as vitriolic. I know that social media has contributed to that tone but we have some choices to make. We can choose to allow the tenor of political division south of the border to further define our politics (I say further because we are going down that road to some extent). We can choose to buy into the notion that our country and our institutions are all broken and dysfunctional. And we can accept that our public life is going to be divided and angry.
Or we can choose something different. We can decide that we are going to do all that we can in each of our lives and our spheres to change that. We can decide that we actually have made progress over the last 50 years—that it is better to include others than to exclude and that the common good is worth serving.
That will be a conscious choice and it does not have to be a partisan one. It never was in the past. Parties of all stripes in this country have tended to the common good and have treated the people of Canada with respect and care.
Winter passes and spring comes. This moment feels bleak. It’s dark outside. We huddle together. And that is where we belong. Together, not apart. That’s how we get through the bleak midwinter.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathleen Wynne - Kathleen Wynne was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West. She was Ontario’s 25th Premier and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from January 2013 to June 2018. Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She is guided by the values and principles that knit the province of Ontario together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity.
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