22 / Canadian Government Executive / Spring 2025 FEATURE RUDDERLESS IN THE STORM: A version of this essay was published in Canadian Public Administration in December 2024. It is reproduced with permission. The essay is based on Professor Roberts’ book, The Adaptable Country: How Canada Can Survive the Twenty-First Century, published by McGillQueen’s University Press in September 2024. Introduction: Dangerous Decades At the end of the twentieth century, few Canadians expected that the next twenty-five years would be so difficult for their country. The economy was growing steadily, secessionist pressures within Canada were contained, new information technologies still sparkled with promise, and the ideals of globalism and democracy seemed ascendant everywhere. Canadians were not alone in thinking this way. Most people in Western democracies were similarly optimistic. The storm rolled in quickly. After 2001, a resurgence of Islamist terrorism triggered concern for domestic security and a retreat from open borders. The global financial crash of 2007-2009 led to a reappraisal of market-friendly economic BY ALASDAIR ROBERTS The Crisis of Adaptability in Canadian Governance
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