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What we've lost (7): Manners

Amy Hamm: Canadians, despite the old stereotype about being some of the politest people on earth, are seriously lacking in manners

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The past 10 or 15 years have not been kind to Canada. Along with a decline in prosperity has come an erosion of the things that made our society great, a decline of what held us together and made us the envy of the world: things like resilience, friendship and service. In this series, National Post writers consider What We’ve Lost.

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Manners are a proxy for the stability of a culture. Manners, though trivial at times (such as choosing the correct fork during a multi-course meal), also constitute a useful code of conduct that is a reflection of the respect — or disrespect — that we hold for one another.

What we've lost (7): Manners Back to video

Canadian culture is not stable these days — are we “elbows up,” “elbows down,” Maple MAGA, a genocidal post-national state or something else entirely? — and Canadians, despite the old stereotype about being some of the politest people on earth, are seriously lacking in manners.

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