I have spent my life despising the "we are not American" sentiment as being the singular notion of Canadian identity.
Perhaps it is my age, or just my disposition, but I have always been astonished at the beneficence of our dual founding, our British Heritage, and our close relationship to the United States.
Between 1775, and 1820, the largest source of immigrants to Canada were United Empire Loyalists, and "late Loyalists" from the United States. I was taught we stood on the shoulders of giants.
Are young folks taught these lessons today? Or did Canada's history only begin in 1867, 1965, or 1980?
Is the goal of an unhyphenated, pan-Canadian identity abandoned as unachievable, or is it just unworthy?
I think that the problem is two-fold. One part is what you just effectively outlined - benign neglect that morphed into something more antagonistic. The second is the dominance of American culture. The best example is the AMC show Turn:Washington's Spies. Simcoe - the man who established governance and legal foundations in Upper Canada, founded Toronto & tried to end slavery is portrayed like some charicature of a German Wehrmacht officer. We don't tell our stories and nature abhors a vacuum.
The notion of a dominant American culture is an issue with which I have struggled for decades.
Firstly, American culture is not exclusive of our own culture, and vice versa. Many writers, actors, artists, performers, comedians, et al have found success in the US, but have also retained the elements of their Canadian character. Others have chosen to abandon it.
Secondly, American culture enhances our own, and vice versa. Performers like Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lighfoot, for example, are thoroughly Canadian but have also advanced American culture in the process of contributing to our own. Likewise, our culture is enhanced by having so similar a culture to that of the US, and of ours having access to such a deep and rich market to the south.
Finally, the Canadian Culture Industry is very good at producing concerns & awareness, but somewhat diminished when it comes to producing culture. That is, there is an acknowledged, self-serving, inherent bias to front line Canadian culture, and it suffers from a less-than-healthy bubble mentality, in my opinion. Canadian history, political culture, and shared, core beliefs are a big, messy, glorious collection of dreams, goals, scandals, mishaps, tragedies and triumphs; that each must align with a proscribed, sanitized, progressive, woke narrative is a shame in a Country that once offered such thrilling promise, and exciting opportunity for human flourishing.
I think it's the argument about politics being downstream of culture. My own gut says it's give and take - a feedback loop. The politics sets the table but the culture sets the menu. Wokism is a politics ignoring culture scenario which provides an astroturfed version of a national narrative nobody is passionate about. But culture that ignores the politics is no less artificial - such as Canadians being fed a mythology where our founders are the villains.
We decided to offshore our culture to the US, and with it our story. George Grant & Marshall McLuhan are probably having a big "told you so" from the clouds...
Exactly. I understand the notion of politics being downstream of culture, but I am not sure it is one hundred percent a certainty.
The feedback loop idea is harder to quantify, but it makes more sense to me as well.
I don't agree fully with that last sentence, however. I don't think we offshored our culture so much as that we made it unconsumable.
I don't want to read something just because the author is Canadian; I want to read something of taste and quality. I don't consume the music of Leonard Cohen, Jim Cuddy, Justin Rutledge, Joni Mitchell, or Gordon Lighfoot because they are Canadian; I do so because they are brilliant.
We need to first make it excellent, then we can praise it for being Canadian.
Thank you for the stellar essay, and also for the kindness of your replies.
This, to me, would be one of the strongest arguments for strongly funding the Canadian content idea. (I think the CBC got off the rails when it tried to become the voice of Canadian culture, or whatever. It should stick to news). It works for music, and yet it still gets distorted by the pull of the American market forces. The story tellers of Canadian heritage need to weigh in on this topic, for sure. Canada Council: has it been captured?
We have such compelling stories to tell. The federal riding I live in was the home of Roy Brown (who was credited with downing the Red Baron) and James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. This says nothing of all the untold stories that would be amazing to tell. My first would be an epic around the Battle of Kapyong - the coming together of Canadian, Australian & New Zealand forces against an enemy 10x their strength, saving Seoul and South Korea.
Many thanks for this excellent essay, Brent. I too am a descendent of a United Empire Loyalist — Samuel Moore of New Jersey — who first settled in Nova Scotia, and later, Upper Canada. (My first American ancestor was Samuel Moore I, who comes into focus in Massachusetts Bay during the English Interregnum.).
My view is that our story — the foundational story of English-speaking Canada, rich in resonance and meaning — has, in recent decades, been sadly neglected and, to varying degrees, disrespected by all the major political parties in our country.
This story of faith and resilience, and the commitment it displays to the shared values of peace, responsibility, order, moderate pluralism, neighbourliness, and the rule of law, is the glue that binds us.
The current cultural drift is to the detriment of our shared sense of Be.Longing (emphasis mine), regardless of where we originally come from.
My question is this: Is a restoration of Canada’s shared creation story possible in this current “interregnum”?
Thank you for your kind words and your family's story. I've always known ours but in these times, I find that it guides me more than I thought.
Is it possible to restore this story? I believe yes.
It's organic and real. I akin it to a place where one tries to landscape and force form to a natural environment. It requires continual effort and resources. Leave a field to neglect long enough and it'll be covered with trees and bushes so that you can't tell anyone was ever there.
Our "betters" decided to enforce an artificial construct of Canada that requires a steady feed of resources and energy. The real Canadian origin story just is. End the astroturfing and it will rise to the top.
Thanks, Brent. I'm not sure political constructs (though helpful!) have the ability to entirely "fix" the issue at hand. I believe that the root of English-speaking Canada's cultural amnesia lies in a worldview that has been largely adopted throughout the West. At its core is a deep loss of meaning that we will also need to address, beyond the political process. j
This is a wonderfully written essay.
I have spent my life despising the "we are not American" sentiment as being the singular notion of Canadian identity.
Perhaps it is my age, or just my disposition, but I have always been astonished at the beneficence of our dual founding, our British Heritage, and our close relationship to the United States.
Between 1775, and 1820, the largest source of immigrants to Canada were United Empire Loyalists, and "late Loyalists" from the United States. I was taught we stood on the shoulders of giants.
Are young folks taught these lessons today? Or did Canada's history only begin in 1867, 1965, or 1980?
Is the goal of an unhyphenated, pan-Canadian identity abandoned as unachievable, or is it just unworthy?
I think that the problem is two-fold. One part is what you just effectively outlined - benign neglect that morphed into something more antagonistic. The second is the dominance of American culture. The best example is the AMC show Turn:Washington's Spies. Simcoe - the man who established governance and legal foundations in Upper Canada, founded Toronto & tried to end slavery is portrayed like some charicature of a German Wehrmacht officer. We don't tell our stories and nature abhors a vacuum.
The notion of a dominant American culture is an issue with which I have struggled for decades.
Firstly, American culture is not exclusive of our own culture, and vice versa. Many writers, actors, artists, performers, comedians, et al have found success in the US, but have also retained the elements of their Canadian character. Others have chosen to abandon it.
Secondly, American culture enhances our own, and vice versa. Performers like Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lighfoot, for example, are thoroughly Canadian but have also advanced American culture in the process of contributing to our own. Likewise, our culture is enhanced by having so similar a culture to that of the US, and of ours having access to such a deep and rich market to the south.
Finally, the Canadian Culture Industry is very good at producing concerns & awareness, but somewhat diminished when it comes to producing culture. That is, there is an acknowledged, self-serving, inherent bias to front line Canadian culture, and it suffers from a less-than-healthy bubble mentality, in my opinion. Canadian history, political culture, and shared, core beliefs are a big, messy, glorious collection of dreams, goals, scandals, mishaps, tragedies and triumphs; that each must align with a proscribed, sanitized, progressive, woke narrative is a shame in a Country that once offered such thrilling promise, and exciting opportunity for human flourishing.
I think it's the argument about politics being downstream of culture. My own gut says it's give and take - a feedback loop. The politics sets the table but the culture sets the menu. Wokism is a politics ignoring culture scenario which provides an astroturfed version of a national narrative nobody is passionate about. But culture that ignores the politics is no less artificial - such as Canadians being fed a mythology where our founders are the villains.
We decided to offshore our culture to the US, and with it our story. George Grant & Marshall McLuhan are probably having a big "told you so" from the clouds...
Exactly. I understand the notion of politics being downstream of culture, but I am not sure it is one hundred percent a certainty.
The feedback loop idea is harder to quantify, but it makes more sense to me as well.
I don't agree fully with that last sentence, however. I don't think we offshored our culture so much as that we made it unconsumable.
I don't want to read something just because the author is Canadian; I want to read something of taste and quality. I don't consume the music of Leonard Cohen, Jim Cuddy, Justin Rutledge, Joni Mitchell, or Gordon Lighfoot because they are Canadian; I do so because they are brilliant.
We need to first make it excellent, then we can praise it for being Canadian.
Thank you for the stellar essay, and also for the kindness of your replies.
I think you and I see the situation in a very similar way. I thank you for your kind words.
This, to me, would be one of the strongest arguments for strongly funding the Canadian content idea. (I think the CBC got off the rails when it tried to become the voice of Canadian culture, or whatever. It should stick to news). It works for music, and yet it still gets distorted by the pull of the American market forces. The story tellers of Canadian heritage need to weigh in on this topic, for sure. Canada Council: has it been captured?
We have such compelling stories to tell. The federal riding I live in was the home of Roy Brown (who was credited with downing the Red Baron) and James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. This says nothing of all the untold stories that would be amazing to tell. My first would be an epic around the Battle of Kapyong - the coming together of Canadian, Australian & New Zealand forces against an enemy 10x their strength, saving Seoul and South Korea.
Many thanks for this excellent essay, Brent. I too am a descendent of a United Empire Loyalist — Samuel Moore of New Jersey — who first settled in Nova Scotia, and later, Upper Canada. (My first American ancestor was Samuel Moore I, who comes into focus in Massachusetts Bay during the English Interregnum.).
My view is that our story — the foundational story of English-speaking Canada, rich in resonance and meaning — has, in recent decades, been sadly neglected and, to varying degrees, disrespected by all the major political parties in our country.
This story of faith and resilience, and the commitment it displays to the shared values of peace, responsibility, order, moderate pluralism, neighbourliness, and the rule of law, is the glue that binds us.
The current cultural drift is to the detriment of our shared sense of Be.Longing (emphasis mine), regardless of where we originally come from.
My question is this: Is a restoration of Canada’s shared creation story possible in this current “interregnum”?
Thank you for your kind words and your family's story. I've always known ours but in these times, I find that it guides me more than I thought.
Is it possible to restore this story? I believe yes.
It's organic and real. I akin it to a place where one tries to landscape and force form to a natural environment. It requires continual effort and resources. Leave a field to neglect long enough and it'll be covered with trees and bushes so that you can't tell anyone was ever there.
Our "betters" decided to enforce an artificial construct of Canada that requires a steady feed of resources and energy. The real Canadian origin story just is. End the astroturfing and it will rise to the top.
Cheers,
B
Thanks, Brent. I'm not sure political constructs (though helpful!) have the ability to entirely "fix" the issue at hand. I believe that the root of English-speaking Canada's cultural amnesia lies in a worldview that has been largely adopted throughout the West. At its core is a deep loss of meaning that we will also need to address, beyond the political process. j