As we witness the clown show presently unfolding in Washington, Murray Brewster writes that the same insanity is showing up in Canada:

A U.S.-based research group that specializes in gauging geopolitical risk says Canada is showing signs of the same political contagion and polarization that has afflicted American politics.

The warning is contained in Eurasia Group's annual "Top Risk" report for the new year, released Tuesday. 

While Canada does not make the consultancy's "Top 10" in terms of geopolitical or instability risks, the group produced three standalone sub-reports on countries affected by worldwide political turbulence: Canada, Japan and Brazil.

In its analysis, the group sees most of the risk to Canada coming from the political convulsions in the United States — which [Ian] Bremmer described as the "Divided States of America."

He said the toxic political culture in Washington and throughout the U.S. is spilling across the border and it is likely to get worse in the coming year.

"The media environment in Canada, and the social media environment in Canada is increasingly resembling the media and social media environment in the United States," Bremmer said Tuesday.

"It is dysfunctional. It is rife with disinformation. It is deeply polarized. [The online discourse] is a bunch of people that do not reflect the average Canadian, do not reflect the average American in both countries."

Policy issues, especially energy and climate change, are being weaponized in Canada for political gain at the expense of national unity, he added.

Do we really want to join the fools parade?

Image: Walnet