Upon moving east to Toronto, I noticed a host of differences in that part of the country; some expected/cliched, some new and unexpected. The biggest lesson I learned however, is how fractured our great country is. East/West, Aboriginal/White, Maritime/Rest of the Country, Quebec/Everyone, the sprawling island of the prairie provinces; it seems everywhere in our country I have started to see cracks in the facade of a united nation. It fascinates me. So, recently, I have been reading books about Canada; it’s people, it’s culture and how we view ourselves as citizens of it. This book is new as of last year so it’s an updated study of the Canadian identity.
The author deconstructs the Canadian self-identity through a series of chapters on our different characteristics. He delves into our hypersensitive nature when it comes to the subject of American/Canadian relations. He even tackles the Quebecois powderkeg.
He also discusses some issues I had never thought about but, upon reading them, realized I was fully aware of (in a subconcious way, if that makes sense, which it doesn’t). For instance, why do Canadians denigrate their politicians for spending money on honest PR campaigns like Adrien Clarkson’s Scandianavian tour a few years ago? She’s promoting the country after all. Why don’t Canadians celebrate their architecture, their art, their literature (although the latter has improved greatly in the past 10 years)? Why are immigrants allowed citizenship without proof of intimate knowledge of Canadian history and heritage? Why do we allow our politicians to hold dual citizenship? How the hell can you serve as Governor General of Canada and be a citizen of France? What if there were a conflict of oil rights or fishing rights between the coasts of Newfoundland and the french islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon? Why do we fucking apologize for absolutely everything, even when we are not wrong? Why do we hate the United States when it provides us with services that have allowed us to become what we are? After all, are we not (partly) a peaceful, successful and safe country because of the American military complex and our trade relations? There are a lot of questions asked and explored here and Cohen unapologetically (very un-Canadian) gives his strong opinion (even less Canadian) and most of the time it leans to the right (gasp!), in a moderate Canadian sense, of course. Believing myself to be a far-left leaning, liberal, bleeding heart douchebag I thought the most amazing part was how convincing Cohen’s argument is, and how adroitly he approaches the subject, a task that could easily be misconstrued as narrow-minded had he not been as strong a writer as he is or done such exhaustive research.
In the end, the book raised a lot of questions and gave me tons to think about as a Canadian. I am looking at Canadian identity in a whole new way now and I’d recommend this book for anyone who has questioned what it means to be Canadian.
