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Nature abhors a vacuum and so does free enterprise and democracies. And Canada is about to show why.

This week, Canada’s massive megaproject, Teck Resources’ giant oil sands mine in Alberta, was obliterated — the biggest casualty of the #ShutDownCanada movement that’s been building and hurting the economy and country’s reputation.

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The significance is not so much about a single project. It is the beginning of Canada’s irreversible economic decline caused by the anti-enterprise policies of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s regime.

This week Canada’s living standards peaked. The absence of smart political leadership, or an understanding as to how the country prospers, has atomized the national interest into thousands of vested, warring interests.

Ironically, Teck pulled the plug on the project late on a Sunday night just hours after getting approvals from 14 First Nations communities and after spending nine years’ and $1.1 billion in development preparation. Why now?