Editor’s note

I come to the role of Editor of Youth Theatre Journal as a Canadian citizen; I may indeed be the first Canadian Editor of the journal. I live slightly to the north of the longest undefended border in the world. The history between our two countries has been largely peaceful and cooperative, with a few blips along the way (the War of 1812 anyone?) But Canada has long been aware that living next door to its closest neighbour and partner in trade – at ten times its population and with the largest military on the planet – can be challenging. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said to an American audience in Washington, “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt” (“The elephant and the mouse”, 2019). Well, since the last Presidential election, Canada has been sleeping with more twitches and grunts emerging from Washington than perhaps ever before. But one potentially good thing about having a Canadian at the helm of YTJ at this point in history may be that, as an outsider, I may bring some alternative perspectives to what is happening. The view across our border is not a pretty one these days, that is certain. Yet it is a far more open and hospitable view than for those who try in desperation to cross the southern border, soon to be a wall. Canada has resisted America’s will in the past; we refused to join the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq in 2003, for example. And while your President tries to turn the clock of social progress and social justice back to the Dark Ages, Canadians have been able to stand strong behind our shared beliefs in a multicultural society, universal healthcare, abortion rights, public education, gun control, high levels of immigration and peaceful coexistence. We Canadians are not perfect, though! We are wrestling with our shameful history of residential schools, in which Indigenous children were torn away from their families and communities and were subjected too often to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. And in Indigenous communities across the country there remain many problems, including access to basic needs such as clean water. We are struggling with changing our economy from one driven by nonrenewable resources such as oil and gas to renewable and greener options. Our current federal government is committed to addressing climate change, yet recently purchased a pipeline from an oil company with our tax dollars. This pipeline will cross from Alberta to British Columbia (where I live), threatening wilderness, Indigenous lands, and the Pacific Ocean coastline with the dangers of a spill. And in Quebec, which has always had an uneasy alliance with the rest of Canada, the province has brought in legislation that will prohibit any show of religion by anyone working in the public sector, including teachers. This is thinly disguised Islamophobia, but the law will also affect observant Jews and Sikhs. Finally, Ontario has a new rightwing premier who takes his playbook straight from Donald Trump, thus moving our largest and wealthiest province into a tough time of cutbacks and the end of many progressive social programs. So why am I sharing these thoughts with you in the context of an editorial for a journal that publishes research on young people, education and theatre/performance? I do so YOUTH THEATRE JOURNAL 2019, VOL. 33, NO. 1, 1–3 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2019.1603983