"Whatever Mr. Trudeau may feel in his heart, his priority is to protect our interests, not signal our virtues." Bravo. This is a principle Mr. Harper would have done well to remember, too.

It is, of course, very difficult today not to blame Mr. Trump for helping to create a climate of opinion in which attacking a mosque seems reasonable to some unreasonable people. On the other hand, we should also recognize that Americans' worry about Muslim terrorism is in fact reasonable, even if the means they choose to protect themselves against it are not. Of course, they should be worrying at least as much about alt-right terrorism, as events demonstrate.

As someone who is generally on the left, I read Ms. Wente for always salutary and often necessary opposite opinions.