Hang out in Toronto during the Soccer Cup thing - hotel? perhaps just a campground...
Posted at 2006-11-15 10:36:07 [PermaLink]Oh dear, another cry for "the Canadian Nation" from an Ontarian. I wonder what Western asset Ontario wants to steal this time?
Posted at 2006-11-15 10:36:25 [PermaLink]Canada has always been a group of “nations” within a nation. The Dominion of Canada was, many times, called a “confederation of regions”, each with its own guiding principles and values, but with our national government deciding our foreign policy and over arching protection policies. The reason why Quebec never signed the constitution is because their leaders know that it fundamentally changes the structure of the country from a “confederation of regions” to a single state country. The provinces traditionally held the greatest power up until the Trudeau era when it became apparent that socialism required a stronger central government to “guide” the people into the compliance. Although I love Canada,(my family came when we lost the American revolution),I do think that great damage was done to our land with the disposal of the B.N.A. and the adoption of the “Bill of Rights and Constitution”. Most people don’t see the two as threatening at all but it’s not the words or the thoughts that count it is the fact that the B.N.A. told the government what rights it had over the people and the people got all the other rights,there by limiting the governments power over the people. The Constitution and Bill of Right tell the people what rights they have left and the government gets everything else, in effect reversing the balance of power.
Posted at 2006-11-15 11:16:14 [PermaLink]The big government/multiculti schtick of the last 30 years has effectively killed this country's identity. It's only a matter of time.
Posted at 2006-11-15 14:58:05 [PermaLink]Some of my family sojourned in the North after the revolution as well and that's why it is important to keep a separate polity in N. America, particularly an English speaking, English [law] based one (though my relatives spent a generation in le petit Francais).
To an outsider, there is a single [English, at least] Canada. The differences you see are more evident from the inside than from the out.
There is a big problem is that there HAS been a loss of national vision and yes, a lot lies at the feet of the multi-culti feeling and Truedeu, who in trying to invent a new Canada created a weak brand.
As much as I admit a small prejudice and and annoyance to the French a semi-hostile and ohnery Quebec has always been a little part of Canada. It's the English who have truly lost their way. The elite, especially the liberal (little l) elite, have no way to define themselves as Canadian. They've given up on the trappings of the old Dominion, but that has left them with no way to define themselves as Canadian besides "peace-keeping", socialized medicine, and "we're not Americans." I feel sorry for the departed who worked their way accross the northern part of the continent, who were British North America, who died on Juno beach. Seriously, the model Canadian is a politician who helped rally for socialized medicine? Nothing makes Canada look more like a big state with barely the population of Texas than such small measure of national heroes. Austrailia has slightly more than half the number of Canada, yet one is a member of the world stage and one is not.
Why does it take an American to make an aggressive case for Canadian Nationalism?
By coincidence or maybe not, I was watching a news item last night that was about multiculturalism and tolerance. (I think this was on the CTV affiliate in Kitchener/Waterloo, but I was channel surfing)
The reporter interviewed a university professor who answered a question with the vehement assertion that there is no such thing as a Canadian identity. He said: "There is no Canadian Way-Canada's way is multi-culturalism."
In the context of the news report this meant that Canada's multiculturalism means that the only thing that is special about Canada is that immigrants and others have no need to become "Canadian".
I'm all for a country that has room for lots of values and viewpoints. But how can there be no national identity, no "Canadian Way", when we are all the heirs of 140 years of history since confederation, and a couple of centuries prior to that. The people of this country - our institutions and our collective consciousness- are formed by the reality of our history. We know this because we just celebrated on remembrance day, some of the significant events that constructed this nation. Many of the generation of World War Two are still with us, and already a distorted view of multi-culturalism is attempting to erase the memory of their contribution to a Canadian way.
I call this a distorted view of multiculturalism, because its solution to making newcomers feel welcome, is to erase the accomplishments of the previous generations of inhabitants. Multiculturalism is no longer about recognizing the contribution that newcomers can make to the Canadian Identity - it is about telling people that there is no pre-existing culture, people, or "nation" to be welcomed into.
This self-inflicted amnesia, this wilfull abnegation of our shared history and cultural memory as social policy is destroying Canada and the potential greatness we could reach.
Rudy and ElamBend; I'd print those out and post them in my car's side window, but I know i't get vandalized.
I'll stick them up by the post office boxes and see what kind of reaction they get. :)
Canada is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories, and we're just like a family - petty squabbling and infighting, west hates east hates further east..nobody really hates anyone, it's just the way we get along. Beneath that there is some sort of mutual respect and a willingness to help each other...But we're not all the same.
I guess my point is, immigrants shouldn't be allowed to come here and not understand that bond we provinces have. Multiculturalism is fine when it's Newfoundland's culture and Quebec culture and Alberta/Nova Scotia/whatever culture etc. To me, that is what Canada is, a mix of those provinces, and our native cultures as well, and I like it all. There is no single Canadian Culture per se. But it's those traditional provincial cultures and those of our Native peoples that we have to protect. What's left of them.
We cannot allow traditional Canadian cultures to disappear, and be replaced from within by peoples who do not wish to adopt one of our ways of life to some extent, to do the things we do (and of course share and keep some of their traditions as well). But mini countries springing up here, which has already happened in most of our larger cities, have no place here, especially if they do not have respect for the cultures that MAKE UP Canada, that chose it's laws, that made it's rules etc. You choose to come here, it better not be to change the place!
And we have to reach out to the cultures who are already here, school them in our traditional cultures, values, our laws, teach them WHY it's important that we all follow the same rules, that we have the same rights, that we all have to try to better ourselves and our communities and our country. If we don't win over the people already here, they're going to continue to influence those that arrive in future.
In spite of my occasional sniping, I have to say that my experiences with recently arrived Chinese families at my daughters schools, was very positive (Vancouver, West side). The parents bent over backwards to fit in and were very willing to do volunteer stuff.
I don't remember any cultural clashes.
To suggest that Canada is a nation is not, as Mr. Coyne believes, seen as provocative or outre. It is seen as plain ignorant.
Posted at 2006-11-20 15:46:08 [PermaLink]