As Canada enters its 150th year — which we will mark on July 1 — the official mood is one of near exuberance.

True, the election of Donald Trump south of the border has somewhat blunted the spirit. Though, in another sense, this event has only served to reinforce it.

The narrative of Canadian exceptionalism has enjoyed an undeniable renaissance over the past 18 months, a fact arguably registered as much by foreign punditry as our own. While certainly boosted by global events — Trump, Brexit, the rise of right-wing nativism throughout Europe — the celebratory atmosphere really began in October, 2015, with the election of Justin Trudeau. “Canada is back,” our photogenic new leader then declared, having ended nearly a decade of Conservative rule and led the country’s ever-dominant Liberal Party into power once again.

Better than anything else, this declaration sums up the widespread spirit of exuberance and optimism which has come in the wake of Trudeau’s election victory. (Indeed the phrase has been brought up many times since then, most often in assessments of Trudeau’s performance.) But often missed or overlooked in the phrase “Canada is back” is its inherent conservatism. To be “back,” of course, is to return or be restored, not reinvigorated — and certainly not reinvented or born anew. Perhaps this explains why, for all the sunny exaltations about the country’s newfound progressive course, the sentiments evinced by its supposed return have overwhelmingly oriented themselves backwards and inwards, rather than forwards.

“Canada is back,” particularly when originating from the mouth of someone named Trudeau, is a nostalgic affirmation of the country’s institutions as they are and as they have been, rather than a clarion call for sweeping change. “Meanwhile in Canada,” another slogan currently in vogue, carries with it the smug implication that prejudice and violence are foreign phenomena that begin a few hundred kilometres south of the 49th parallel.

The familiar simulacrum of Canada as a uniquely open, egalitarian and post-racial utopia has reasserted itself with a vengeance both at home and abroad, alongside an equally familiar image of a uniquely constructive actor on the world stage.

Nowhere has this been more evident than in relation to the global refugee crisis. When Trump targeted Muslim-majority countries with his travel ban (since struck down in the courts), the prime minister informed the world: "To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength. Welcome to Canada.” Trudeau’s statement was reported glowingly by international media, though nothing about Canada’s refugee policy was actually being changed to take into account those in the U.S. who might need accommodation. Images of asylum seekers being greeted by smiling Mounties at the border became a viral sensation, while those showing the same asylum seekers being handcuffed and driven to detention centres have, perhaps unsurprisingly, been largely hidden from view.