Who would have thought Canadian values could be so controversial?

Plenty of ink has been spilt in the past few weeks over the suddenly taboo topic of promoting Canadian values.

The consensus from Canada’s elites has been to condemn the very idea of listing our values, let alone asking newcomers to respect and adhere to them.

But a far more controversial idea about Canadian values and identity was recently proposed by our very own prime minister. And the media barely batted an eyelash.

Late last year, Justin Trudeau told the New York Times that Canada is becoming a new kind of country, not defined by our history or European national origins, but by a “pan-cultural heritage”.

“There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada,” Trudeau said, concluding that he sees Canada as “the first post-national state.”

Even the New York Times called the suggestion “radical.”

Despite Trudeau’s bizarre musings, Canada has a proud history and strong traditions.

Canada has never been a homogeneous society — defined by a single race or ethnicity — but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a distinct culture and identity.

Our identity is rooted in our history, and it’s impossible to divorce the two.

Canada’s democratic values and traditions date back over 800 years, to the signing of the Magna Carta by our political ancestors.

That document helped enshrine our natural rights and freedoms, and limited the government’s ability to impose its powers.

Canada, perhaps more than any other Western country, is a living manifestation of that great document.

We live in the greatest country in the world. My biased opinion aside, the Reputation Institute ranked Canada as the most admired country in the world.

Our peaceful, free, fair and just society is the envy of the world. That is why so many people around the world want to come to Canada. They want to adopt our values.

But Trudeau takes this all for granted.

He doesn’t think there is anything special about Canadian history or traditions.

Instead, he suggests Canada is nothing but an intellectual construct and a hodgepodge of various people, from various backgrounds, who just happen to live side by side in the territory known as Canada.

Trudeau seems embarrassed, even ashamed of our Western culture and values.

Far from standing up for Canada and promoting our core principles at home and abroad, Trudeau frequently apologizes for Canada.

That’s why he feels no shame in speaking at a segregated mosque, where women and girls are forbidden from entering through the front door, or sitting in the main hall.

He can call himself a “feminist” while also tolerating the subjugation and segregation of women, when it suits his political interests.

That is also why, while in China, Trudeau told the one-party authoritarian state that Canada, too, is imperfect when it comes to human rights.

Trudeau blurred the distinction between Canada’s peaceful, free society and that of a communist dictatorship.

He equated Canada — a democratic country that always strives for peace, justice, liberty and equality — to a closed regime with a sordid history.

Trudeau is wrong when it comes to our values and our identity. And his ideas are far more controversial than the proposed vetting of newcomers.

- Malcolm is the author of Losing True North: Justin Trudeau’s Assault on Canadian Citizenship. Readers are invited to attend her Toronto book signing event, at 5:30, Friday, Sept 16. Please register at: www.LosingTrueNorth.ca