July 1st and July 4th
This is the first time in my 36 years that I have spent July 1st outside of Canada. Today, I am in the United States.
While the two countries are similar in many ways, I am struck most by the differences.
In America, there is such a thing as "the American Dream" - that if one works hard, then they can be successful. In Canada, there is no equivalent "Canadian Dream" - unless it means "to be anything but American".
In America, the adjective "American" is a patriotic term, signifying much more than the people who live here; it also signifies ideals like liberty, innovation, competence, and pride. In Canada, at least in Ontario and Quebec, "Canadian" means "Ontario and Quebec", and "American" is a pejorative. A political party in Canada seeking to, for instance, innovate in the area of health-care delivery, is accused of seeking to impose an american-style health care system - "accused", because, well, up there "american" = "bad".
In America, top-level judges (ie at the district and Supreme court level) are nominated by the President and vetted by the Senate. In Canada, judges are appointed by the Prime Minister, whose word is final. There is no vetting process. Similarly, Canadian senators are also appointed by the PM, a lifetime position.
In America, the military projects American might around the world, defending all its allies. In Canada, successive governments have gutted the once-proud Canadian military, reducing it so severely that Canada cannot defend itself, nor provide more than a token force in any combat situation.
Americans think of their country as the greatest country in the world. Canadians think of their country as "nice".
Americans consider calling someone "un-American" an insult. So harsh is the insult that one cannot imagine a US President using that appelation on an entire state or region of the country. In Canada, it is routine in an election campaign for a Prime Minister to declare westerners, or in particular Albertans, to be "not really Canadian". Ontarians will not elect a political party whose leader is from western Canada, nor elect a political party whose support base is in western Canada.
America has a left-wing political party and a right-wing political party. Canada has a centrist party, a left-wing party, a further-left-wing party, and a couple more ranging from left-wing to completely-moonbat-left-wing.
Canada became a country on July 1st, 1867. During my lifetime, the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day (named after the Biblical verse "and He shall have dominion from sea to sea") to Canada Day. This was part of a concerted effort to erase all ties between present-day Canada and its history; the effort included changing the flag from the Red Ensign (which flies on my sidebar) to the current Maple Leaf, changing the words of the national anthem, and completely rewriting the Constitution, among other things.
America became a country on July 4th, 1776. July 4th has since been known as Independence Day. This has not changed. It would never occur to Americans to change the name - to do so would remove all meaning from the day they became independent from Britian.
Americans stand for truth, justice, and liberty. Canada used to stand for something but has so thoroughly expunged its history that nobody remembers just what exactly Canada stood for. As the saying goes, if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything.
Happy Canada Day, and God Bless America.
Technorati Tags: Canada, America, holidays
11 comments:
Akira, I am preparing a rather lengthy post on this myself. As for why ToryBlue deleted your comments, it may have something to do with the ad hominems: "they are masters of smear and run" or "these people... fear free speech" for example.
I do think that the implications of this whole same-sex marriage bill (C-38) have not been thought out. I'll give people a chance to respond to my questions (I posted similar questions on several blogs), then make a post on this myself later.
Check out the latest Pew Research Study at http://pewglobal.org/
17000 people from 16 countries were recently asked "Suppose a young person who wanted to leave this country asked you to recommend where to go to lead a good life - what country would you recommend?"
Except for respondents in India, Poland and Canada, no more than 1 in 10 people in the other nations said they would recommend the US. Kind of screws with your typical right wing preconceptions which holds that Canadians hate the US. In fact the English view the US more unfavourably than Cdns. Not surprisingly Canada and Australia won the popularity contest, selected as first choice by several countries.
Barbara, I will agree that not all Canadians hate the US. In fact, at the start of the Iraq war, when there were demonstrations against it all over the world, in Calgary there were 50 thousand people demonstrating in favour of the war.
However, if you watch the national news in Canada, and read what people are saying in Ontario and Quebec, you will find that most Canadians intensely dislike the USA. Only in Alberta will you find a majority favourable towards the US.
• In America, there is such a thing as "the American Dream" - that if one works hard, then they can be successful. In Canada, there is no equivalent "Canadian Dream".
No one calls it the Canadian dream, but the dream is to achieve a relatively equitable distribution of opportunity and wealth. As opposed to "looking out for number one", which may or may not be a fair description of the American way.
• A political party in Canada seeking to, for instance, innovate in the area of health-care delivery, is accused of seeking to impose an american-style health care system - "accused", because, well, up there "american" = "bad".
That's not the point. American style health care manages to cost more while simultaneously leaving many Americans behind. That's no one's ideal, and it isn't a matter of mere prejudice ("American" = "bad").
• the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day … to Canada Day. This was part of a concerted effort to erase all ties between present-day Canada and its history.
What a silly remark! "Dominion" is just an archaic word. No one refers to "the Dominion of Canada" any more, nor would they catch the biblical reference if you did.
No one is erasing history as an end in itself. The whole western world has undergone a cultural shift in the past hundred years or so. Canadians are trying to be true to themselves; we're not the same homogeneous, rural, Christian people we once were.
Q
Q, I have to consider the source when reading your comments. You are posting from a Government of Canada computer (isn't sitemeter wonderful?). That alone is nearly enough to discredit your arguments. In fact, it is enough by itself.
Yes, I'm an employee of the Government of Canada. So what?
Your response constitutes a logical fallacy — an ad hominem circumstantial.
According to wikipedia, "Ad hominem circumstantial involves pointing out that someone is in circumstances such that he or she is disposed to take a particular position … The reason that this is fallacious is that it simply does not make one's opponent's arguments, from a logical point of view, any less credible to point out that one's opponent is disposed to argue that way."
In other words, my comment stands or falls on its substance, not because of who I work for.
Q
Q:
What substance? That "no one is erasing history as an end in itself?" That is patently false.
As for you being an employee of the government: check out this post. And then get back to work.
You should read this article.
It says that Dominion Day wasn't celebrated annually until 1958. Before that, it was celebrated only twice, in 1917 and 1927 (the 50th and 60th anniversaries of Confederation).
If we're going to demonstrate a slavish attachment to history, let's not do it by halves. I propose that we restore the old name and celebrate Dominion Day every 50 years.
Q
Get Your facts correct before you post. Your attempt to make Canada into some kind of Christian nation gone wrong is absurd.
Dominion Day was not named after some obscure Biblical verse "and He shall have dominion from sea to sea."
Here is a link to relevant excerpts from the act that established Dominion Day.
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/jfa-ha/gazette_e.cfm
Dominion refered to Canada's status as a self-governing colony of Britain while still respecting existing political ties. This was a British term for the type of government used in New England.
The use of the term a Dominion from "Sea to sea," came from Sir John A MacDonald as he tried to sell the transcontinental railway and the so called National Policy.
Q you were too polite.
go ahead delete this Ed.....
Hi Mr. Anonymous. Too bad you didn't leave your name. I guess that must be because you didn't want to admit you didn't get your facts straight. See Psalm 72:8 and that Wikipedia entry.
My mistake it does look like Dominion may have been a word chosen from Psalm 72:8. However, Wikipedia, which is a free-content encyclopaedia that anyone can edit, and is thus by no means a reliable source. Wikipedia also states; " The modern usage of the term Dominion first occurs in connection with the creation of the Dominion of Canada, a term preferred by the Colonial Office instead of the term "kingdom" favoured by some Fathers of Confederation."
Given the above statement I'm not sure that the decision to use dominion was therefore "unanimous." Also there is nothing in the Quebec resolutions, the BNA Act, or any subsequent act or document available online that draws any connection to the idea of dominion as referred to in Psalm 72:8 other than a convenient choice of a word.
I therefore concur that there is a connection to Psalm 72:8 so my facts were not be entirely correct. Sources at the National Archives only reveal that at The London Conference, December-January 1866-67 " It is believed that Tilley suggested Dominion as the title for the new country, after a passage he read from the Bible, Psalm 72: 'He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.' " However there is no official written record of this. Can you find any proof , from Tilly's writings or any of the fathers of confederation, that this was anything more than a convenient choice of a word? (and given the nature of Wikipedia I suggest we not use Wikipedia)
I suspect that the connection to the Dominion of New England was more on the minds of the Colonial Office than the Dominion of God.
That said, you have given me a good idea for an article. Give me a few days in the National Library and Archives and I should have a good analysis of the religious or not so religious origins of Canada. (I may find there is more to your point than I am at this time willing to concede but I suspect not)
There was a large degree of lip service to religion at the time of confederation (as was the convention of the times), but as Sir John A MacDonald the prime promoter of confederation, was a known drunk with a ribald sense of humour, it is more possible that he was not so pious and that religion may have been simply useful to his political ends.
If the creation of the Dominion was to be based on religious underpinnings I'm not sure it would have been necessary for MacDonald, at the head of a representative delegation from Ontario and Quebec to the maritime conference on union, to stock the holds of their boats with copious bottles of alcohol, and have lavish parties on board the Canadian delegations boats to coerce the Maritime conference delegates to their point of view. I would hope that pious religious men would not sway or be swayed by champagne lunches and late night parties. (lecture by Michael Piva, professor of history University of Ottawa, derived from the records of the delegation, and the shipping log)
I will have to do more research on Tilly whom on first glance, it would seem was a very religious man, but I fear that even if he did have some religious aspirations for the nation, MacDonald and the other fathers of confederation might have twisted that dream at its conception, or at least simply used religion for a more political goal.
Now: I will be visiting the national archives on another issue within the next month so I shall source everything I have mentioned above, and explore further the religious connections to confederation.
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