The Weimar Republic was weak, unstable, and vulnerable to the ideologues and extremists in post-First World War Germany. Canada, in comparison, has enjoyed a democratic lineage, mature government institutions and a population on the whole committed to liberalism. Antisemitism has reared its ugly head across the country, and our democratic institutions — long afflicted by weaknesses documented by Canadian public administration scholar and author Donald Savoie — are losing the confidence of growing numbers of Canadians. This ferocious fight begins with a restatement of liberalism’s essential features: democratic institutions and politics, established freedoms, equality of opportunity, and market economies. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementNational PostPeter MacKinnon is a senior fellow of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Aristotle Foundation.

Source: National Post January 02, 2026 11:35 UTC