It’s possible to be both astounded and completely unsurprised by the allegations that some members of Parliament have colluded with foreign states to serve both their own interests and those of governments like China and India.

For years now, Canada’s elite have been acting as if there is no real legitimate national interest. Imagine a new prime minister trying to invoke a Canadian version of JFK’s self-abnegating admonition to, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Young Canadians would say: “But I thought you told us we lived on stolen land?”