Viral Contradictions: Canadian Exceptionalism and Covid-19

By Adrian Murray, January 2021 C anadians generally see their country as a progressive and cooperative member of the global community across a range of domestic and international policy spheres. At first glance, it appears there is some basis for this view. Canada ranks in the middle of the pack among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) member states when it comes to poverty and inequality. Among other universal social programs, Canadians especially pride themselves on their public healthcare system. Canada has also long thought of itself as a global leader in the international community. It enthusiastically participates in a variety of multilateral spaces, from development cooperation to the United Nations Climate Change Conferences and is often positively associated with defending peace and human rights. When the pandemic struck this image appeared to hold. During one of the daily briefings given outside his home in March 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians that ‘we are all in this together’ reassuring them that ‘your government has your back.’ Canada’s Minister of International Development Karina Gould also insisted that: ‘The Covid-19 virus knows no borders. This has been a wake-up call for the world to stand in solidarity and work together. If there was ever a time for countries and governments to support one another and invest in health globally, it is right now.’ Compared to its southern neighbour the United States, which became increasing unpredictable during the Trump presidency and whose response to the coronavirus has been shockingly poor, it is perhaps easy to perceive oneself as broadly progressive. Much as it has elsewhere in the world, however, the arrival of the pandemic and Canada’s response to it has intensified the yawning gap between rhetoric and reality, rich and poor and marginalized and not, within and beyond the country. Indeed, upon closer examination, the pandemic has exposed Canada’s domestic and i