I AM British born and bred, but live in Canada because of love. Thirty-nine years ago, I was asked to give a lecture at a convention at the University of Toronto. At the post-conference party, a beautiful young woman approached me, explained how much she’d enjoyed my paper, and then said, “You’re amazing.” Thinking this would never happen again, I married her. And, after almost four decades in this country, I can assure you that, while we might sound like Americans, we are distinct in almost every way that matters, including faith and Church.
We were different but friendly until President Trump declared a trade war and, more significantly, made repeated comments about how we should become the 51st State. It started as joke, but it has become something much darker and more sinister. President Trump, his people, and his media spokesperson repeat the sordid mantra, and I’ve never seen this country as united, angry, and anti-American. There are boycotts of US products, booing of the US anthem at sporting events, cancelling of US holidays, and refusals to do business with American companies.
We are more a Northern European social democracy than an American free market; we are officially bilingual, revere socialised medicine, the welfare state, and public broadcasting, and pride ourselves on having a moderate foreign policy and being peacekeepers rather than warmongers. Mind you, Canada fought the Nazis more than two years before the Americans became involved.
BUT there is something else: our Christianity. Canada is 30 per cent Roman Catholic, and Catholicism has produced most of our post-war Prime Ministers, including Pierre and Justin Trudeau, John Turner, Jean Chrétien, and Brian Mulroney, and now the Liberal leader and Prime Minister, Mark Carney. It is no coincidence that most of them were Liberal, and Canadian Catholicism is generally more progressive than south of the border. The numerous conservative Catholic think tanks, magazines, activist groups, and politicians that flourish in the US simply have no parallel in Canada.
About one quarter of Americans describe themselves as “born again”, and the influence of the various Evangelical churches is enormous, especially in the Republican Party. In Canada, perhaps 11 per cent of the population are Evangelicals, and they are not exclusively conservative. The Mennonites, for example, with their Anabaptist pacifism and commitment to social justice, have a significant influence.
It is not that Canadian Evangelicals are especially liberal, but, for the most part, they have relatively little in common with their American brethren. The militarism, conspiracy theories, and Christian nationalism that permeate American Evangelicalism have limited appeal in Canada. The US was founded in the spirit of Reformation defiance and triumphalist confidence: a new nation to be a light on the hill. Canada, on the other hand, welcomed refugees from the American Revolution who had often been harshly and violently treated by the nation that regarded itself as a beacon of freedom and godliness.
Then there is the fact that our Head of State is the King, who is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The position may be titular, and the Canadian Church is independent, but it is still relevant to the three per cent of Canadians who are Anglican. Beyond this, acceptance, even passively, of the monarch is widespread.
The largest Protestant denomination, though one in severe decline, is the United Church, founded in 1925 when most, but not all, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists united to form their own Canadian Church. It is renowned for its commitment to progressive ideas, and has had a tangible influence on the country.
THE irony of the situation is that the US has a constitutional separation of Church and State, and yet federal and state governments are profoundly influenced by religion, and Christianity in particular. In fact, the entire electoral and political process is enveloped in issues of faith, and it is probably impossible for a declared atheist to ever become President. Canada has no such separation, but declarations of faith are far subtler. Belief is worn not on the sleeve, but perhaps more deeply in the heart.
The Canadian ideal of community, multiculturalism, and equality differs radically from the US’s embrace of individualism, Americanism, and holy success. It is no accident, by the way, that prosperity theology has such a concrete place within American life. This isn’t to say that there are not countless inspiring and committed Christians and churches in the US. The late Tony Campolo was one of the best of them (Comment, 6 December 2024). When I hosted a nightly television programme on a Christian network in Canada, Tony was a regular guest. He once said to me: “Every time I come up here, I’m invited on your show. In the US, Christian TV stations won’t even let me in the building.”
In other words, we are very different countries, in our politics, attitudes, and faith. Pray God that nobody manages to change us.
The Revd Michael Coren is a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, and a journalist. His latest book, Heaping Coals: From media firebrand to Anglican priest, is published by Dundurn (Features, 29 November 2024).
