I spent last weekend at a splendid manorial pile called Wiston House in the south of England at the annual meeting of the Canada-U.K. colloquium. Cue the perfectly spaced sheep on gentle hillside. A lowering sky. Doughty hikers on footpaths that all end at a pleasant pub.

It could have been Masterpiece Theatre, or the safe house in a le Carré novel. Nobody does England like the English. The late Brian Shein called it Englandland. The United Magical Kingdom, others say. You can have your Casa Loma.

There were two national “teams,” mainly academics, but also MPs, civil servants, businesspeople, journalists, NGO types, a copper, a smattering of baronesses and sirs. This year’s theme, “The e-connected world,” was chosen months ago but unfolded in the shadow of September 11. Discussions were held under “Chatham House rules,” which means, I was told, you can report what was said but not who said it.

In the first session, on e-democracy, the British side displayed considerable ardour for the democratizing potential of the Internet. I found it dubious (under Chatham House rules, you can blow your own cover), if you consider a specific example like, oh, September 11.

There was virtually no popular consultation, electronic or otherwise, on the crucial question of response. The decisions came from the top down, with no “inputs,” based solely on an intuitive sense that “people” wanted something harsh done fast.

Yet there were many signs, including polls, that there was real division, especially over bombing Afghanistan. I found the Canadian side generally more skeptical, while the Brits, with exceptions of course, tended to burble. It’s as if they’ve become a nation of Tony Blairs.

“I know what you mean,” said one of them. “Shallow enthusiasm.” Always pumped about the next big thing. There’s a common lingo (people kept mentioning “silos” with furrowed brow) and goals such as overcoming “the digital divide,” which sounded like a way of Labour proving they’re still Labour, appearances notwithstanding.

I know Tony Blair has his Canadian fans, some here at The Globe and Mail. They were out in force on this page during last weekend’s NDP convention. Edward Greenspon said the party has “failed to confront the challenges” of globalization and throw up “a Tony Blair in Canada.” Jeffrey Simpson repeated the same things he’s been saying for years about the NDP repeating the same stale formulas.

I don’t really get it about, for instance, the Blair “Churchillian” eloquence. As The New York Times’s Matthew Parris noted, the guy has “slogans by the many,” including A New Age, The Giving Age, The Age of Challenge, The Fight for the Future. They come, they go. Cool Britannia, anyone?

I can’t even remember what he said last month that got called Churchillian, except that it was called Churchillian. It’s true he’s been a loyal puppy for America’s New War. But with the scent of barbarism coming from those not-as-loyal proxies, the Northern Alliance, the Blairites (including some cabinet ministers) are reduced to claiming privately that their man has kept the U.S. from doing far worse things.

I dunno. With U.S. leaders telling their allies publicly to take no prisoners, and their special forces calling in jet strikes on rebellious POWs, then advising them to burn the few holdouts alive — just what is it that “Tones” has stood in the way of?

So I preferred Canadian skepticism, a trait nurtured by centuries of experience of the good intentions of great powers like the U.K. and U.S. Now, with survival at stake, is a time for skepticism, not enthusiasm.

It takes a skeptic to recall that terrorism always arises from weakness, not strength; and the more you slap people down and slaughter them, the more they have no motive but payback and no abundant resource but time till they get it. When you got nothin’, you got nothin’ to lose, as Dylan said. Ask the Palestinians, with this difference: Now they know they can hurt the West, which will increase their patience and determination.

Since it’s typical of our e-connected age that medieval slaughter and urbane colloquiums co-exist, not just in time and space but in our experience (you flick on the TV in your room, you check the Internet on the computers in the posh library), let me return to Wiston House for a lighter moment.

Ray Protti heads the Canadian Bankers’ Association but he formerly ran CSIS, Canada’s spy and security agency. (He gave me permission to cite him so I’m not breaching CHR.)

In a session on how the Internet threatens privacy, I argued that cops, spooks, etc., will use September 11 to infiltrate and attack many unrelated political agendas. I indignantly said I know how that feels. In the 1970s, I had my phone tapped for entirely legal trade union activity. In the 1980s, according to a Globe and Mail report, CSIS bugged meetings of a magazine editorial board held in my dining room. “Ah,” interjected Ray pensively, “I thought I recognized your voice.”

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Rick Salutin

Rick Salutin is a Canadian novelist, playwright and critic. He is a strong advocate of left wing causes and writes a regular column in the Toronto Star.