This is such an interesting question. In fact, Jim and I were talking about it earlier in many ways.
I think that over the last 25 years, or maybe more, there has been a really active debate in terms of how, on this planet, we're all going to coexist or not.
You can remember—it wasn't that long ago—that nationalism was really seen as going down. We were all going to be in this world together—globalization, citizens of the planet and so on, but we know, in fact, that geopolitical borders have become perhaps more important than ever along the way. I think that we're now attempting to come to grips with that belatedly. I think Canada lost focus a little on the extent to which where you live and the regimes and institutions under which you are living matter a lot now .
One of my concerns in recent years has been the extent to which Canada has lost sight of its dream of being a nation, its dream of national sovereignty and domestic capacity. My fear now is a new kind colonialism in the intangible economy and the knowledge economy of the 21st century.
Somehow we have to reconcile, I think, the theoretical wonders of “open”—we like open science, and we want to share, we want to advance knowledge, we want a healthy planet and we want all societies to advance—with the other side, which is that geopolitical borders matter and that if Canada does not stand up for itself and ensure our citizens a place in the 21st century, this could go very badly.
I think a new sense of ourselves as a country that we must build in terms of a solid foundation is really coming to the core again. I think some of that energy that we had in the 1960s and 1970s in terms of building a strong Canada we need now in terms of the 21st century. We need to find the balance between open as possible but protected as necessary, given the geopolitical context we are in.