I have always thought that Americans are great at mythologizing, telling themselves stories that, even in their polarized political environment, pull them together. Their beliefs about being a bellwether of global democracy and the inventors of rights and freedoms are not that true, but it doesn’t matter because they believe them.

Canadians have quieter myths. We tell ourselves we are polite. And the rest of the world echoes that sentiment. But you only have to listen to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in attack mode to know it’s not always true. We have many of these quiet myths, but some of the biggest are around the Canadian economy, particularly autos and oil.

Our auto industry has been in steep decline for the last 25 years. In 1999, we produced three million vehicles, we were the fifth-largest manufacturer of autos in the world, and we were a net exporter. But globalized free trade, the rise of Mexican car manufacturing, the Great Recession and pressure from our inflated petrodollar in the 2000s saw our auto industry shrink.

We now manufacture only about one third of what we did 25 years ago, we rank eleventh in the world, and we are now a 

© National Observer