Canada, U.S. take sharply contrasting approaches to containing Omicron

January 6, 2022

People enjoy their lunch on the bench in Toronto’s Yonge-Dundus Square on January 5, with the restaurant closed for in-person dining.

Geoff Robbins/AFP/Getty Images

As the Omicron version grows, lockdowns are once again the rule for most Canadians, while restrictions are less in place in much of the United States.

We are about to look at the effects of two different approaches to managing the fifth pandemic wave.

“It is the difference between ‘peace, order and good government’ and ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,'” said former Canadian diplomat John Allen. Policy, in an interview.

While Canadians, despite murmurs and howls, acknowledge more weeks of lockdown in the United States, “the tide of opinion is such that no politician seems to be able to do anything close to lockdown,” he observed. Two countries, two systems, two cultures.

Quebec and Ontario, which has more than 60 percent of Canada’s population, are moving forward: Classes have gone virtual once again, restaurants and entertainment venues are closed and people are working from home.

In the US, by contrast, most students have returned to classes, most shops, restaurants and entertainment venues remain open, and wearing masks is optional in many states.

You don’t have to be an epidemiologist to predict results. with fewer americans Vaccination According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Canadians account for 78 percent of the total population — compared to 63 percent for them — and with fewer restrictions in place, Americans death rate, which is already three times higher than Canada’s, could climb even higher.

Many Canadians will regard those different mortality rates as evidence that Canada’s response to COVID-19 has been better than the US. Many Americans would disagree.

The political culture of the United States is rooted in individualism, says historian Jeremy Suri of the University of Texas at Austin, whose latest book is on the US presidency.

“Basically, when in doubt, people don’t trust any big government or centralized entity,” he told me. “And I think the longer COVID lasts, the more individualism will come.”

At the same time, he points out, American federalism is more decentralized, with power shifting to the local level: “Let Starbucks figure out what Starbucks wants to do.”

In order to maintain individual and local autonomy, American culture embraces a level of violence and death that other cultures reject, he says. “When we shoot ourselves, when we kill ourselves, there is a long tradition of saying that the freedom to do so is better than taking it away to save lives.”

For many – though by no means all – Americans, the high death rate is the unfortunate, but acceptable, price of freedom.

The most common and best explanation for the differing values ​​of the two cultures lies in the fact that America was born in the Revolution, which resulted in the celebration of the individual and the local, while Canada remained loyal to the Crown and gradually colonized. evolved from For a sovereign state, that results in a high degree of trust in public institutions.

At the same time, Canada managed the tension between the French and the English by developing a culture of accommodation in relation to the differences that lead to today’s multiculturalism. Most Canadians prefer this respectful, consensual, friendly society to the American political maelstrom, especially given the growing polarization south of the border.

But Christopher Sands, director of the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, reminds us that the American way has its benefits. “There’s a lot of competitive federalism here,” he said. Different communities offer different approaches to suit local conditions and preferences.

There is no substitute for American mobility anywhere on earth. After all, Canadians may be more willing to accept the vaccine than Americans, but the United States was a global leader in the race to develop and distribute the vaccine.

As Colin Robertson, vice president of the Canadian Institute for Global Affairs, reminded Us this week in Policy Magazine: “When it comes to democracy, commentary focuses on politics and its reflection in social media. But for most Americans, the inner and outer aspects of politics are not at the center of their daily lives. “

Despite everything, he wrote, “my bet is still on the energy and vitality of the American people and their institutions.” Mine too