Fearful Symmetry and Canadian politics

Check out Rick Peterson’s comments about Fearful Symmetry on his blog posting of 11th September. He talks about the opportunity that is offered to the Conservative Party by the kind of shifts in values and population described in Fearful Symmetry. He’s right, of course. But as I argue in the book, the founding values of Canada that I rattle on about were also for many years the bedrock values of the Liberal Party of Canada. The Tories were the party of privilege, the Liberals the party of opportunity. I don’t think the values of our founders are the property of any one party, and I think the shifts in values and political power that Fearful Symmetry foretells will shake our institutions to their roots — including our political parties.