Top Tips for Boosting Business Loyalty in the USA

The saintly editors at The Hub have consented to use one of my two monthly articles for the site as a monthly transatlantic journal. For readers unfamiliar with the format, which is more typical in British journalism, the diary is a collection of brief articles, some on a common theme, others not. In my case, they have one thing in common: they are either too insignificant to warrant a whole piece, or I can't be bothered to come up with anything other than a knee-jerk reaction or a flip comment. This is Januar My birthday is in January, which is also the most dismal month of the year. Across the majority of Canada, it's the month when the spark of hope ignited by a spotless calendar is smothered by the impending reality of four more months of winter. The mood and weather in the United Kingdom are not only cold, but also damp. When I arrived for Hilary term, Oxford was afloat. The meadows around the city are lakes, and any grass you see is actually the deceptively solid surface of a marsh. We resemble a temperate colony of Thesiger's Marsh Arabs. Walking over Port Meadow in the dark to my birthday supper, I drenched both shoes and one sock up to the mid-calf. Fortunately, the fire at The Perch served its purpose. I'm sure the public health commissars who are out to eradicate all traditional sources of joy have declared wood-burning fireplaces a threat; if so, I'm pleased the fine folks at The Perch are sticking with the old ways for the moment. The pale glow of an electric heater is the last thing anyone wants to see when they walk into a pub with damp feet.

I noted that the mood in Ye Jolly Olde is gloomy

but that is not an unusual state of affairs. Except for the unusually vulgar effulgence of "Cool Britannia" in the late 1990s, the British mood since abandoning its imperial ambitions has been sardonic resignation, occasionally sliding into dignified sadness. Politically, we're in one of the darkest moments. No one, not even the families of their MPs, appears to be considering voting for the incumbent Conservatives, and no one, even most Labour supporters, appears to be very thrilled about Labour leader Keir Starmer, who has the charisma of three-day-old rice pudding. His 20-point advantage in the polls demonstrates that, for the time being, the system leaves dissatisfied voters with no other options.After nearly thirteen years of Conservative control, the country is significantly less conservative in almost every manner imaginable—culturally, socially, legally, spiritually, and fiscally. The sole positive aspect of the party's reign is that it repaired a fifty-year-old wrong by freeing Britain from political entanglements with the corrupt and undemocratic European Union. Otherwise, taxes are rising, service is declining, strikes have resumed, and borders remain open. It's no surprise that the Conservatives are likely to suffer a generational setback in the next election. I almost feel sorry for Rishi Sunak, who is like a subordinate officer promoted to command of a garrison that has already been conquered. It's not his fault that the top officers squandered all of the ammunition on hunting expeditions before being removed of command for ineptitude, but he'll be the poor bloke facing the enemy's spears at close range.

If things weren't terrible enough at home

it was recently claimed that a "senior U.S. General" had bluntly advised Ben Wallace, the former UK defense minister, that the UK military "is no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force." It makes one wonder what the Americans think of Canada's military. I suspect they don't. Yes, the CAF performed admirably in the ill-fated war in Afghanistan, but instead of capitalizing on that success, successive governments have viewed defense as a politically convenient source of budget cuts. At this point, it is practically impossible to imagine that we will satisfy our NATO duty of spending 2% of GDP on our military.Putting on my cynical hat, perhaps the CAF's chronic underfunding is acceptable. What are we going to do with a larger, more capable military? Involve ourselves in additional West African civil wars? If you want to laugh, read the government's account of the shamefully undermanned Mali mission, which is ironically dubbed Operation Presence. Replacing my skeptical hat with a political hat, a new government must make the case for the Canadian military before increasing investment. What does the CAF stand for? What, exactly, is Canada for? Does anybody in Ottawa know? Does anybody in Ottawa care?In terms of Canada's place in the world, I've had the niggling heretical thought for some time that it wouldn't be the worst thing if the G7 forgot to invite us to its annual chinwag. By objective standards, we should have been supplanted by India several years ago. 

The shock of relegation may compel Canada's 

complacent leadership class to reconsider whether we have more to offer the world than pompous lectures and occasional incendiary press releases from the Pearson Building. As a youngster, I had an English teacher whose father was one of the last individuals granted hereditary peerage. My teacher explained that his father chose a life peerage over a title because he knew his son and believed that inheriting a title would be detrimental to him. There is a lesson there. We don't need to earn a place at the table as long as we already have one. Australia, South Korea, and Norway do not appear to have suffered as a result of their absence from the G7. It might even have helped them. Perhaps it would also assist Canada.