Canadian identity

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Skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
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Skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

Canadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that many Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world.

Primary influences on the "Canadian identity" are the existence of many well-established First Nations and the arrival, beginning in the 16th Century, of French and British settlers. The relations between French Canadians, English-speaking Canadians, and First Nations have played a major role in Canadian history. Other immigrants from European and Asian nationalities have helped shape the Canadian identity since Canadian Confederation.

Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and cultures due to its location on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (see Canadian culture). Canada is also a bilingual and multicultural nation.

A major external influence on Canada has been its location next to its powerful neighbour, the United States. Canadians struggle with how to promote their image as Canadians and separate themselves from Americans.

For example, in 2000, Molson Brewing Company created an advertisement for its Canadian beer brand, I Am Canadian (view commercial). The commercial depicts an 'average Joe' giving a rant about the finer points of being Canadian. Some critics suggested that this ad was revealing in that Joe's definition of a Canadian was more about what he is not, which is a stereotypical American, rather than what he is. The advertisement, and its subsequent criticisms, illustrate the common symptom of Canadian expression of identity.


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[edit] Early years

Canada's large geographic size and relatively open immigration policy have led to an extremely diverse society, including a large set of First Nations and other immigrants. Despite this large range in cultural contexts, there is a general sense of a distinct Canadian identity.

Canada experienced periods under direct French then British rule, and has become involved with disputes with the United States, especially in pre-confederation times (such as the American Revolution and the War of 1812). Several other immigrant groups have settled in sufficient densities to create somewhat insular communities.

Early in Canada's history, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald had a policy of bringing faming families from Eastern European countries to the prairies with offers of free land [1]

[2]. Macdonald did this to encourage families that had experience farming to settle the land, and it brought many Europeans to Canada.

[edit] 20th century

The main crisis regarding Canadian identity came in World War I. Canadians of British heritage strongly supported the war effort, while those of French heritage, especially in Quebec, were far less supportive. A series of political upheavals ensued, especially the Conscription Crisis of 1917. Simultaneously, the role of immigrants as loyal Canadians was contested, with large numbers of men of German or Ukrainian heritage temporarily stripped of voting rights or incarcerated in camps. The war helped define separate political identities for the two groups, and permanently alienated Quebec and the Conservative party. A similar crisis, though much less intense, erupted in World War II. World War I helped to establish a separate Canadian identity, especially through the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Battle of Passchendaele.

In the 1920s, the Dominion of Canada began to seek out greater independence from Britain, the major result being the Statute of Westminster, but still remained loyal to the larger Commonwealth. As Canada became increasingly independent and sovereign, its primary foreign relationship and point of reference gradually moved to the United States, the superpower with whom it shared a long border and major economic, social and cultural relationships.

Canadians have struggled to decide what it is exactly that makes them Canadian. Though Canadians continue to recognize Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, the British aspect of the national identity is barely evoked anymore[citation needed]. The majority of the Queen's duties have now been transferred to the Governor General, who since 1952 has been a Canadian citizen. Up until 1965, the Canadian flag was a Red Ensign, featuring the British Union Jack, but this was replaced by a new design with a red maple leaf (see the Great Flag Debate). Similar reforms or abolitions of colonial-era symbols and institutions occurred throughout most of the mid-20th Century, and contemporary Canadian society features few noticeable signs of Canada's colonial past.

Unlike other Commonwealth realms, such as Australia, republicanism has not been a highly emotional issue in Canada in recent years. Any debate of republicanism in Canada is mostly academic (see Republicanism in Canada).

The toned down role of the Queen is a recent phenomenon of the last decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. In the 1940s and 1950s the question of the monarchy was a divisive topic which pitted English against French at all levels of society. The quarrel came to a head in the 1960s when each visit by Queen Elizabeth was met by ever bigger riots in the province of Quebec. Specialists in protocol and diplomacy finally defused the issue in the late 1960s by carefully organizing royal visits which avoided public exposure of the Queen in large French language communities or important social or cultural manifestations in Quebec, save for a few exceptions like the opening of the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

[edit] Modern times

Some Canadians often define their culture by comparing its differences with the United States. Since the larger American population tends to dominate North America and Canadian mannerisms and accents often seem indistinguishable from those of the neighbouring northern American states, Canadians are often confused for Americans by many foreigners and Americans alike. This tendency seems to be the catalyst for the perception that Canadian culture can be defined simply as "not American".

When visiting or migrating to other countries, Canadians often must point out differences from their more populous southern neighbours or else accept the consequences of being grouped as Americans. American journalist Richard Starnes once famously remarked, "Canadians are generally indistinguishable from the Americans, and the surest way of telling the two apart is to make the observation to a Canadian."

Though today much popular culture available in Canada, such as TV, movies, music, news, and literature, is both American and Canadian in origin, many Canadians believe a unique distinct Canadian culture exists, even in an era of deep economic and cultural ties between the two nations. In defence against the perceived American influence on television, however, Canadian broadcasters must conform to government-mandated "Canadian content" rules, which are allowed under NAFTA due to their cultural, rather than economic, protection purpose.

Other Canadians recognize that Canada and the United States share a common culture, even if it is best known as 'American culture'. These Canadians are more conscious of the fact that Canada and the U.S. developed on a similar timeline, based on similar (although not identical) immigration patterns, with a common language, with extensive media cross-over, and that there are few fundamental reasons to expect significant differences between the Canadian and U.S. cultures.

Many American cultural hallmarks and distinctions such as American film and American television could actually be more accurately described as 'collaborations' between the two countries or 'representative of Western culture' since many of these 'culturally-representative' projects often involve significant Canadian contributions. Hundreds of so-called 'American' films, cartoons, musicians, videogames, music videos and commercials are actually created in both parts of Canada and the USA with significant Canadian casts, Canadian production houses and hundreds of Canadian technical workers.

A great example is the popular rock song, "American Woman" by The Guess Who, which some Americans and Canadians assume is a patriotic tribute to American culture by an American rock band, but instead, is actually written by a band of Canadian musicians. Other examples of so-called American icons with strong Canadian participation include 'American Apparel', a clothing store with deep Canadian roots, the late night TV show, Saturday Night Live, M.A.C. Cosmetics, and famous writer, Malcolm Gladwell, who is often tagged as an American or New York writer, but is actually a famous Canadian writer.

As for the role of history in national identity, the books of Pierre Berton and television series like Canada: A People's History have done much to spark the popular interest of Canadians in their history.

Much of the debate over the contemporary "Canadian identity" is argued in political terms, and defines Canada as a country defined by its government policies, which are thought to reflect deeper cultural values. To the political philosopher Charles Blattberg, Canada should be conceived as a civic or political community, a community of citizens, one that contains many other kinds of communities within it. These include not only communities of ethnic, regional, religious, civic (the provincial and municipal governments) and civil associational sorts, but also national communities. For Blattberg argues that Canada is a multi-national country, one that contains at least three nations within it: the Quebecois, the Aboriginal nations, and English Canada.

In keeping with this, it is often asserted that Canadian government policies such as publicly-funded health care, higher taxation to distribute wealth, emphasis on a loyal opposition, outlawing capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, an emphasis on multiculturalism, imposing strict gun control, and most recently legalizing same-sex marriage make their country politically different from the United States.

These differences also have played a significant role in migration of citizens from one country to the other. One can easily scan Canadian history to understand why Canada is viewed by many as the "alternative" for Americans or other immigrants seeking a different Western lifestyle. Canada was the home for 'American' British Loyalists during the uproar of the American Revolution; Canada was also the escape-route for slaves from America via the Underground Railway (The 'North Star' as heralded by Martin Luther King Jr.) and Canada was also the refuge for American Vietnam draft-dodgers during the turbulent 1960s.

The US in turn has been a refuge for many Canadians who did not agree with the collectivist, risk averse nature of Canada. The US has always attracted Canadians who wanted to "pursue their dreams" be it in theatre, journalism, business, design, or medicine. The opportunity and reward for the "best and brightest" has always lured Canadians, especially those who couldn't break into the old boy network of certain fields such as finance and law.

For many professions the wages are also much greater in the US (while skilled trades are more lucrative in Canada generally). For instance surgeons routinely can earn 3 times the income in the US for the same type and amount of work as is done in government run Canadian health system.[citation needed] As Canadians by nature are a more cautious people, risk takers and individualists have also been attracted to the US. This has been a cause for concern in Canada and is even referred to as the "brain drain." Without very strict US immigration controls, it is thought many more Canadians would move to the US [citation needed](and vice versa).

Within Canadian politics, there is a diverse range of reaction to the United States amongst individual members of the various political parties. In the early 20th century, the Conservatives portrayed themselves as loyal to the Empire and hostile to threatened American takeovers. They decisively won the 1911 election on these grounds. In World War II, however, Liberal William Lyon Mackenzie King built close ties with the US, working smoothly with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1957-1963 the Conservative John Diefenbaker took defiantly anti-American positions, especially regarding defense issues. In the late 1960s the Vietnam issue opened a difference of opinion between the two neighbours, and Pierre Trudeau tried to take political advantage in moving the Liberals to a more anti-American position in foreign affairs.

Generally speaking however, in recent years parties of the political left, such as the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party, have tended to advocate a more distant relationship with the United States, particularly when conservatives hold office in Washington, D.C.[citation needed] In the past, the Canadian left has largely opposed economic deals such as free trade and Canada's participation in US-led military operations such as the Gulf War.

The term "Americanization" is likewise frequently used by members of the Canadian political left to designate policies they dislike. For example, private, or two-tier healthcare is often described as simply "American-style" healthcare in political debates. Much of these criticisms ostensibly arise from the belief that the United States, and the United States government is fundamentally more conservative than Canada, and as a result "Americanize" becomes synonmous with "right-wing reform". Some believe, however, that the frequent use of the word "Americanization" in Canadian political discourse has little to do with American politics or 'quality of life' issues itself but is rather used as a potent "scare tactic" to frighten constituents who found part of their identity as Canadians on not being Americans.

In recent years the Canadian right, mostly led by the Conservative Party of Canada and right-wing think-tanks such as the Fraser Institute, by contrast have generally tended to be more in favour of a closer relationship with the United States, supporting US iniatives such as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and the rejection of the Kyoto Protocol. Some conservative Canadians often argue that closer ties to the United States are both an inescapable reality and favourable economically. Because they may already oppose policies such as socialized healthcare or Canada's gun laws, the term "Americanization" is not as frequently used as a term of condemnation by those on the political right. (See Annexationist movements of Canada for efforts to join the two countries, and Canadian and American politics compared for efforts to compare the two).

Recent economic issues such as lingering trade disputes on softwood lumber and cattle, especially in areas of Canada harmed significantly by the closure of mills and inability of farmers (especially within Alberta) to sell their cattle likewise continue to be a source of political tension between the countries.

Books such as Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, by Michael Adams, head of the Environics polling company argues this point using polling research performed by his company as evidence. Critics of the idea of a fundamentally "liberal Canada" such as David Frum argue that the Canadian drive towards a more noticeably leftist political stance is largely due to the increasing role that Québec plays in the Canadian government (three of the last five elected Prime Ministers have been Quebecers, four if one includes Ontarian born Paul Martin). Québec historically was the most conservative, religious and traditional part of Canada. Since the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, however, it has become the most secular and social democratic region of Canada. However, it is noteworthy that many Western provinces (particularly Saskatchewan and British Columbia) also have reputations as supporting leftist and social democratic policies. For example Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces (all in the West) to reelect social democratic governments and is the cradle of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and its successor the New Democratic Party. Also, a large part of the Canadian feminist movement occurred in Manitoba, lead by Nellie McClung.

By contrast, the Conservative government of province of Alberta has frequently quarrelled with federal administrations perceived to be dominated by "eastern liberal elites"[citation needed]. Part of this is due to what Albertans feel were federal intrusions on provincial jurdistictions such as the National Energy Program and other attempts to 'interfere' with Albertan oil resources.

In a poll that asked what institutions made Canada feel most proud about their country, number one was health care, number two was the CBC, and number three was peacekeeping. In a CBC contest to name "The Greatest Canadian", the three highest ranking in descending order were the social democratic politician and father of medicare Tommy Douglas, the legendary cancer activist Terry Fox, and the Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, which suggested that their voters valued left-of-centre political leanings and community involvement.

[edit] Outsider Perceptions

The most famous Canadian stereotype is the perceived notion they they add 'eh' to the end of every sentence. The comedy duo, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, as the McKenzie Brothers immortalized this in their song, "Take Off", and a subsequent movie, "Strange Brew".

A very common expression of Canadian identity is to rail against the stereotypes they believe non-Canadians hold of Canadian citizens. This ranges from Voltaire's purported assessment of Canada as a few acres of snow (which is, in fact, a misquote) to the myth of American tourists traveling to Toronto in July with skis tied to the roof of their car.

Canadian media personalities sometimes also play with this phenomenon for comedic purposes. During his years with This Hour Has 22 Minutes, comic Rick Mercer produced a popular recurring segment, Talking to Americans, in which he would pose as a journalist in an American city and ask passers-by for their opinions on a fabricated Canadian news story.

Some of the "stories" for which he solicited comment included the legalization of staplers, the coronation of King Svend, the border dispute between Québec and Chechnya, the campaign against the Toronto Polar Bear Hunt, and the reconstruction of the historic "Peter Mann's Bridge". During the 2000 election in the United States, Mercer successfully staged a Talking to Americans segment in which presidential candidate George W. Bush gratefully accepted news of his endorsement by Canadian Prime Minister "Jean Poutine".

[edit] Quebec and Canada

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While the distinct language and customs of Quebec are accepted and embraced by Canadians who enjoy Canada's multiculturalism, Quebec's repeated attempts at political separation from Canada have made the province appear distant and foreign to many residents of other provinces, especially in the West.

Even many federalist Québécois who readily identify as Canadian regard French-Canadians as constituting a distinct nation (in the ethnic sense) within the Canadian federation. This comes of the pervasive reality of the culture of Quebec which is made of six million francophones trying to maintain an independent culture against the majority culture of 27 million Anglo-Canadians (and 280 million more English-speaking Americans just south of it).

Most of Canada's recent prime ministers have been from Quebec, and thus have tried to improve relations with the province with a number of tactics, notably official bilingualism which required the provision of a number of services in both official languages and, among other things, required that all commercial packaging in Canada is printed in French and English. Again, while this bilingualism is a notable feature to outsiders, the plan has been less than warmly embraced by many English Canadians some of whom resent the extra administrative costs and the requirement of many key federal public servants to be fluently bilingual [citation needed]. Furthermore, despite the widespread introduction of French-language classes throughout Canada, very few anglophones are truly bilingual outside of Quebec.

Things are complicated by sharp differences in the perception of the nature of bilingualism and bilingual individuals, whether one lives and works in English or in French, in Quebec or in the other provinces.

At the core one must remember that, like Canadians in other provinces, the Québécois hold the health care system to be nearly sacred (even if there are some quibbles as to how much of it is a provincial versus federal responsibility) and its existence to be non-negotiable. Like other Canadians too, they are very much attached to the CBC, albeit its French-language counterpart, Société Radio-Canada. Finally, like other Canadians they support Canada's efforts in the international community from peacekeeping to foreign aid and co-operative programs.

[edit] Multiculturalism

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Multiculturalism and the state of inter-ethnic relations in Canada is relaxed and tolerant, allowing ethnic or linguistic particularism to exist unquestioned. In metropolitan areas such as Toronto and Vancouver, there is often a strong sense that multiculturalism is a normal and respectable expression of being Canadian.

Critics of Canada's multiculturalism, however, argue that the country's "timid" attitude towards the assimilation of immigrants has actually weakened, not strengthed Canada's national identity through factionalism. The indulgent attitude taken towards cultural differences is perhaps a side effect of the vexed histories of French-English and Aboriginal-settler relations, which have created a need for a civic national identity, as opposed to one based on some homogenous cultural ideal.

Supporters of Canadian multiculturalism will also argue tolerance of ethnic and religious minorities promotes a greater willingness to tolerate political differences.

[edit] Distinctly Canadian

A Winnipeg street after a snowstorm.
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A Winnipeg street after a snowstorm.
  • Canadians often like to see themselves as brave warriors who have to endure each winter a never ending struggle against massive amounts of snow and ice and extremely cold temperatures. They proudly proclaim that Ottawa is the coldest capital in the Americas, and has the second coldest winter weather of any capital in the world after Ulaanbaatar.
  • The search for the Canadian identity often yields some whimsical results. To outsiders, this soul-searching (or, less charitably, navel-gazing) seems tedious or absurd, inspiring the Monty Python sketch Whither Canada?
  • In the 1970s, CBC Radio's This Country in the Morning held a competition whose goal was to compose the conclusion to the phrase: "As Canadian as ..." The winning entry read: "... possible, under the circumstances." [3]
  • Robertson Davies, one of Canada's best known novelists, once commented about his homeland: "Some countries you love. Some countries you hate. Canada is a country you worry about."
  • Pierre Berton, a Canadian journalist and novelist, once alluded to Canada's voyageur roots with this famous saying: "A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe without tipping it."
  • British novelist Douglas Adams said each country was like a particular type of person, and "Canada is like an intelligent 35 year old woman". America, on the other hand, is a "belligerent adolescent boy" and Australia is "Jack Nicholson".
  • American journalist Richard Starnes once famously remarked, "Canadians are generally indistinguishable from the Americans, and the surest way of telling the two apart is to make the observation to a Canadian."
  • A half-joking definition of a Canadian, offered by The Economist in 1993: "an American with healthcare and no guns", in reference to the countries' contrasting levels of gun crime and military spending.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

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