This week, while headlines were dominated by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to the White House and the Toronto Blue Jays’ playoff triumph over the New York Yankees, my focus is on the deeper currents of Canadian identity. A forthcoming book, ‘Elbows Up!’, offers a compelling lens through which to examine this.
Having moved to Canada last year, I’ve been fascinated by the intense national conversation about identity, particularly how it’s shaped by Canada’s intricate relationship with its southern neighbor, the United States.
As someone born and raised in Greece, where identity is often rooted in a glorious past, I find Canada’s focus on the future of its identity, especially amidst discussions of a ’51st state’ under President Trump, particularly striking.
‘Elbows Up! Canadian Voices of Resilience and Resistance’ (McClelland & Stewart, releasing October 14) directly addresses the urgent question: What truly defines Canada? The book explores avenues for the country to reassert its independence and emerge from the significant shadow of American cultural influence.
This collection of 30 essays, edited by author and critic Elamin Abdelmahmoud, brings together a diverse range of perspectives. It includes powerful Indigenous and immigrant Canadian voices, Québécois authors, and experts in sports and culture. As Mr. Abdelmahmoud notes in the introduction, what emerges is ‘not a declarative nationalism but something quieter: a steady belief in the sturdiness of an unfinished project.’
Drawing inspiration from the 1968 collection ‘The New Romans: Candid Canadian Opinions of the U.S.’, ‘Elbows Up!’ features a few essays from that earlier work. However, it deliberately omits perspectives from those who advocate for Canadian assimilation or acquiescence to the United States.
I asked Mr. Abdelmahmoud if the book could be considered partisan, especially given the phrase ‘Elbows up’ as a Liberal rallying cry. He clarified, ‘It’s really worth emphasizing that ‘Elbows up’ was not invented by Mark Carney.’ He added, ‘I think there was a deliberate political intelligence to the ways Mark Carney used the slogan, but it became a catchall phrase on the threats to Canadian sovereignty a few weeks before that.’
Many passages from the advance copy stood out, but here are three I highlighted:
Canada’s foremost living author, Margaret Atwood, reflects: ‘In 1963, when I was working for a market research company, the majority of Canadians in one of our surveys answered ‘No’ to the question ‘Is there a difference between Canada and the United States?’ Though they also answered ‘No’ when asked if Canada should join the United States. It seems they knew there was a difference, but they didn’t know what it was.’
Carol Off, a prominent Canadian journalist, presents an in-depth argument about the perceived decline of Canadian cultural output, partially attributed to the overwhelming financial and gravitational pull of American culture. She challenges readers, asking, ‘Do we have the courage, or even the desire, to resist assimilation?’ Her powerful case urges Canadians to cultivate both.
Vancouver-based author Jen Sookfong Lee delivers a sharp critique of the country while simultaneously affirming her faith in it. She writes: ‘So what are we fighting for now? Am I fighting for the idea of Gold Mountain, the idealized version of Canada that prompted my grandfather to leave his village at the age of seventeen?’
She continues, ‘I am choosing to believe that Canada can be the country my grandfather once dreamed of, but that I can also be the Canada that I would wish for my children and grandchildren.’
Ultimately, Mr. Abdelmahmoud concludes, ‘it’s a book that says we can’t ignore the reality of our vulnerability, so how should we think about it?’
For those interested in more Canadian political writing, the Writers’ Trust of Canada recently celebrated outstanding examples from the past year. At last month’s Politics and the Pen event in Ottawa, the 2025 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing was awarded to Raymond B. Blake, a University of Regina history professor, for his ‘Canada’s Prime Ministers and the Shaping of a National Identity.’ Other finalists included Stephen Maher’s political biography of Justin Trudeau, ‘The Prince’; Tanya Talaga’s impactful examination of residential schools, ‘The Knowing’; and ‘Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada,’ by former health minister Jane Philpott.
Looking ahead, mark your calendars for ‘Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk,’ a potent and timely book by pollster Darrell Bricker and journalist John Ibbitson, set to be published by Signal/McClelland & Stewart on October 28.
Enjoy the long Thanksgiving weekend (perhaps with some Canadian Thanksgiving recipes from NYT Cooking).
Trans Canada
- Mr. Carney met with Mr. Trump in the White House. Our correspondent reported on Mr. Trump’s claim that ‘Canadians will love us again,’ and the nuanced art of navigating a relationship with the president.
- After 50 years of debate and DNA analysis, the mysterious 11,000-year-old fossil named Torontoceros hypogaeus, or ‘horned Toronto deer from underground,’ unearthed during subway digging in the city’s West End, has finally revealed its secrets.
- Marineland’s controversial threat to euthanize 30 beluga whales is causing widespread outrage, as reported by our correspondent, with a video report detailing the situation.
- Our Washington-based colleagues covered Mr. Trump’s approval of an industrial road through Alaskan wilderness, leading to a proposed copper and zinc mine. The U.S. government is investing $35.6 million for a 10 percent stake in Vancouver-based Trilogy Metals, co-owner of the project.
- An editor focused on American sports coverage wrote from Toronto about the symbolic significance of the Blue Jays’ victory over the Yankees in the current U.S.-Canada political climate. Extensive game coverage was also available.
- For our Real Estate section, Gerald Narciso highlighted the Nguyens, a seven-person extended family, who chose multigenerational living in Calgary to combat rising housing costs, enjoying the added benefit of endless homemade pho.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff is the Canada bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the country.
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