Sunday, December 31, 2006

What's So Great About Canada?

Recently, I've encountered a few people on the political right-wing who seem to define their negative image of Canada in terms of everything American. This goes a long ways to explain Stephen Harper's fawning sycophancy towards Washington, and really irritates the heck out of me.

The argument goes a little like this: Canada is a small nation, and has never made any "major" contributions to the world. Supposedly there are no major Canadian inventions that dominate world life the way that the Automobile has {whether that's an American invention is open to some debate}. Canada hasn't started and won any major wars, etc, and is therefore an eminently forgettable nation.

With all due respect to my American readers, I simply do not accept that Canada is obliged to define itself relative to a nation 10 times its size that it borders on.

My self respect as a Canadian is not defined by "great landmark" moments forged in fire. That isn't Canada's past.

My Canada is a nation that tries to look after its own. We brought this nation into being in a spirit of collaboration, not conflict, and that colours our politics and presence in the world to this day - I hope that it continues to do so.

Canada is a nation filled with people who have a quiet resolve. We have populated and built this country out of lands that many had seen as uninhabitable. We didn't accomplish this by the "great acts" of a few individuals, but more through the collective effort of all Canadians. The CPR which spans this nation was built by Canadians because we knew that we needed the transportation link for this nation to prosper.

We are a nation who chose in the 1960s to make medical care available to all Canadians, regardless of income or circumstances. We are a nation whose politicians wrote a Charter of Rights into our Constitution - a model that has been emulated by many emerging democracies since.

Our soldiers acquitted themselves heroically in WWI and WWII; since then Canada's Military has taken on a role as peacemaker, builder rather than aggressor. Although often low key efforts, talk to the people who have lived with Canadian peacekeepers on the ground (e.g. Cyprus or Egypt in the 1970s), you seldom find anything but admiration and respect.

Canada has its share of major inventions (remember the Canadarm anybody? - or the Avro Arrow which conservative short-sightedness killed?) Among computer scientists, few would ignore the contributions of James Gosling to the field of computing. {and there are many others}

Our culture is diverse and broad reaching - each major region of Canada is notably different, and produces its own unique flavor of writers, artists and the like. The writers of the prairies are quite different from Margaret Atwood, or any of a dozen other writers from Canada. Musically, we have our collection of greats, like Maureen Forrester and Glenn Gould. Pop acts like The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain, or Anne Murray have taken contemporary Canadian music well beyond Canada's borders. Canada has never been a cultural wasteland, but is perhaps only just beginning to find its own voice.

Canada is like that kid in school that everybody pretty much ignored, but at the same time was smart enough to be able to explain what the other students missed in class. Not always noticed, or even heard, but there and quietly successful in our own way.

So, as 2006 comes to a close, Canada remains a proud nation with much to be proud of. Those who would denigrate Canada's accomplishments and contributions do so at the peril of falling into Abraham Lincoln's trap:

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

15 comments:

evilscientist said...

Not to mention such unimportant things such as insulin, the variable pitch propeller, the snowmobile and standard time as only the tip of the iceberg.

Canada has much to be proud of in what it's given to the world.

Pity these people want to be Americans so badly they're overlooking how good things are here to start with.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
MgS said...

Two comments deleted for being nothing more than offensive trolls.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

canada can not not can cant create SHIT

MgS said...

Consider yourself banned, troll. Now run back to your lessons and maybe you'll become literate enough to write something relevant and coherent.

Collective Punishment

Ever since Pierre Poilievre opened his mouth and declared that Trans Women need to be banned from washrooms and locker rooms , there's b...