My perspective - What does it mean to be Canadian?
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- Published on Thursday, June 29, 2017
Kate Jackman - Atkinson
The Neepawa Banner
What does it mean to be Canadian? As the country prepares to celebrate its 150th birthday, many people, myself included, are asking this question. I was born in this country, as were my parents, you would think I would know what it means to be Canadian, but I don鈥檛.
It鈥檚 easy to think about what Canada is鈥� a cold and peaceful country, full of pristine wilderness and polite, friendly people. This may not be the Canada most people experience, but the stereotype remains and it鈥檚 one, I think, most Canadians cling to. But what does it mean to be Canadian? Summer or winter, Canadians like to complain about the weather, but we can hardly say that鈥檚 what it means to be Canadian!
Earlier this year, the Pew Research Centre conducted a survey to see what it meant to be a 鈥渢rue鈥� Canadian. The survey talked to people in 14 countries and was undertaken in response to rising nationalist sentiments across the developed world. Nearly 90 per cent of Canadian respondents said that speaking French or English was 鈥渧ery鈥� or 鈥渟omewhat鈥� important. Just over half of the respondents said that sharing national 鈥渃ustoms and traditions鈥� was important, but just what those practices included wasn鈥檛 specified. This doesn鈥檛 really help us.
Surprisingly, for most people, being Canadian usually means being from another country. Apart from the First Nations, all Canadians, or their relatively recent ancestors, came here from somewhere else. They came in search of riches; fur, timber, gold or oil. They came to escape persecution; religious or otherwise. They came to pursue opportunities, such as land ownership, not available to them in their home countries. This was true 150 years ago and it鈥檚 true today. The 2011 Canadian Census reported that 6.775 million people living in Canada, or one in five, were foreign-born. About 17.2 per cent of them came to Canada between 2006 and 2011 and in the 10 years between 2001 and 2011, just over 2 million immigrants came to Canada. Even those who were born here still often have some connection to their 鈥渉omeland鈥�.
Perhaps, because being Canadian is often about being from somewhere else, being Canadian is in many ways an act of comparison鈥� We鈥檙e not as flashy as the United States, but we have free health care.
The United States has the American Dream. Rooted in the Declaration of Independence and articulated by writer and historian James Truslow Adams in 1931, the dream is that "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement鈥�. The idea that anyone can work hard and achieve success, based on merit alone, is perhaps one of American鈥檚 greatest cultural exports. The 鈥淎merican鈥� dream does exist in Canada too, but it isn鈥檛 nearly so central to our country鈥檚 identity. I truly don鈥檛 think there is a unified 鈥淐anadian鈥� dream.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canadian values include equality, respect for cultural differences, freedom, peace and law and order. In a world of increasing political, cultural and financial insecurity, these are values we should hold on to, but is that what it means to be Canadian? Is a Canadian someone who embodies these values?
Maybe we鈥檒l never know what it really means to be Canadian, maybe that鈥檚 the answer. Maybe there is no one 鈥淐anadian鈥� story, because we have all had different experiences鈥� something allowed by our country鈥檚 diversity. I, for one, will drink some Maple Syrup and toast to that.
