Carol Off, host of CBC Radio’s “As It Happens” and author of several books including her latest, "True Patriot Love," discusses her newfound sense of patriotism for Canada in an interview with Steve Paikin. She reflects on how she has come to deeply appreciate her country's identity, especially in contrast to the political climate in the United States. Off emphasizes that Canada has a unique role as a beacon of liberal democracy and civil society, which is increasingly valued globally as democratic principles face challenges elsewhere.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
My hunch is, almost everyone reading this knows who Carol Off is: host of “As It Happens” on CBC Radio for a decade and a half; author of five books, plus a new one, ”True Patriot Love: Reporting from the Front Lines of Canadian Sovereignty,” which chronicles her own life story along a kind of parallel track with Canada’s own history.
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which → read → history
One of Off’s most interesting discoveries is that, for one of Canada’s greatest ever foreign correspondents, she loves her home and native land a lot more than she thought.
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she → love → home
How are you personally navigating your relationship with the United States these days?
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you → navigate → States
I was just recently doing an interview on stage with American author, Jodi Picoult.
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I → do → author
When we began, she said, “I just want to start by saying, I’m sorry.
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I → begin → ?
We’re all sorry!”
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We → ’re → ?
But I also hear from Americans who say, “Look, you guys have to grow a thicker skin.
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guys → hear → skin
Trump’s just trolling you.
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Trump → troll → you
And I say, “Well, if you were told that you were going to possibly be invaded, you wouldn’t say, ‘That’s just Donald talking.’”
uncertain
Donald → say → ?
We know that there are very deep histories to this, and this is just the most bald-faced and cruel way to do it.
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this → know → it
I have just decided not to go at all.
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I → decide → ?
Let’s turn the magnifying glass around and look at us, because you say Canada has not just a chance, but also an obligation to be a beacon of civil society and liberal democracy in North America, and I presume you say that because our friends to the South are not being that right now.
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friends → let → South
Why do you think we have this obligation?
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we → think → obligation
Because we are a liberal democracy and we all have a role to play in pulling our system of values, our system of politics back from the brink.
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we → have → brink
And I don’t just think about the United States when I say that.
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I → think → that
I see what’s happening in Europe, and what we’ve seen recently in elections in Germany.
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we → see → Germany
We see an erosion of some really key values of constitutional democracies like our own.
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We → see → own
And Canada is one of the few countries that’s holding the line.
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that → hold → line
That’s why we’re having this enormous reaction from around the world of “Go Canada!”
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we → ’ → Canada
I was just recently reading a blog from a Brit who said, “I would kill to be a Canadian” because they’re standing up to the bully in the playground, standing up for values, standing up for things that matter.
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that → read → things
You tell us in your book that “Something has happened in Canada that I haven’t seen before: an utter rejection of that unhealthy dependence, a will to nationhood from a generation that wants to light its own flame rather than be moths drawn to the American one.
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that → tell → one
I’m seeing an energy and self-assurance that was present only as a sketch.”
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that → see → sketch
What are you seeing?
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you → see → What
I was just recently talking to Margaret Atwood, who was saying that she remembers a poll in the 1960s where Canadians were asked whether Canada and the United States were very different countries.
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Canada → talk → 1960s
And most people said no, they’re very similar.
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they → say → ?
And then the next question was, ‘Do you want Canada to join the United States?’
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Canada → want → States
We didn’t want to be Americans, but we had no sense of who we were.
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we → want → sense
What I have seen in the past year is suddenly, all the things that I have watched over the decades have coalesced into this sense of, ‘Now I get it; now I know who we are.’
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we → see → it
It often takes a crisis to do that, doesn’t it?
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it → take → that
But there are plenty of people in our country who still do not agree with you.
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who → be → you
Do you take into account the fact that maybe 20 per cent of Canadians really don’t like what this country turned into after a decade of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister?
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country → take → Minister
Many of them would be all too happy to join the United States.
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Many → join → States
What do you say to them?
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you → say → them
I would have a lot of questions for them about what it is you see the country is about.
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country → see → them
What is it that you value about Canada?
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you → value → Canada
All of those things would probably evaporate if we were to join the United States.
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we → evaporate → States
And so I have to ask, what is the country that you would like us to be?
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us → have → that
There is a movement of ethnic nationalism in the United States that we don’t share.
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we → be → that
And I look to those 80 per cent of Canadians who would probably join me in this, that we believe in being patriotic.
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we → look → this
We believe in a love of country that is based on an idea and not on an identity.
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that → believe → identity
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
