Basic HTML Version
CANADA
FIGHTSFOR
UNITY!
by
K. Neil Earle
In the world's second-la rgest country two cultures are locked in st ruggle.
C
o
TROV ERSY
surrounds
Canada. N ot only
among her Amer ican
neighbors but throughout the
world at large.
Are the stolid, commonsense
Canadians about to tear their
country apart? sorne have won–
dered. Others pcrpetually won–
der out of sheer curios ity: Why
haven't Canadians joined the
United States? Aren't they
practically identical people?
Why does Canada still submit to
thc British monarchy'?
ls Canada a loyal NATO ally'?
What about thosc socialist govern–
ments we hear about?
The Plain Truth
is a magazine
of understanding. lt 's time to clear
up long-standing myths and mis–
conceptions about thc world's sec–
ond biggest country (in land mass).
A warning though: Canadians
aren't easy to analyze. One of the
country's major writers saluted her
in a collection of essays as
The
Unknown Country.
The ldentity Crisis
An identity crisis sorne people call
it. Even Canada's fricnds get con–
fused, almost universally rnistaking
Canadians overseas for Americans
(except, of course, for the telltale
"eh?"). The
New York Times
went
so far as to label Canada's identity
crisis as a peculiar national pastirnc,
ranking with ice hockey.
Perhaps a humorous anecdote
helps shed a little light on the elu–
sive Canadian natíonal character.
Thrce students, one American, one
January
1984
Frcnch and the other Canadían,
were assigned essays on the theme
" The Elephant." The American
chose "Advertising Elephants for
Fun and Profit." The French stu–
dent covered "The Mating Habits
of the Elephant."
The Canadian's choice? " The
Elephant-A Federal or Provincial
Respons ibili ty?"
Most Canadians enjoy this droll
tale. l t seems to illustrate sorne of
their past and present predicaments.
cratíc maneuver just to hold
together. "You stifle your potcntial
with red tape," Canad ians are told.
"You need decisiveness and preci–
sion in your leaders."
Others havc taken to referring to
sorne Canadians as wild-eyed sepa–
ratists, a placard in one hand and a
bomb in the other. What are the
facts?
An important point to remember
in all this is that the media's fixa–
tion with federal-provincial bicker-
Queen Elizabeth II signs the proclamation of the Constitution Act of 1982,
severing Britain's last formal legislative link witb Canada.
l t also highlights the caution and
wariness in the national charactcr,
the hesitation expressed in tcdious
conferences and dreary negotiations
that (unknown to outsiders) conceals
a great national strength.
A few critics see only a people
north of the 49th parallel endlessly
embroiled in cornplicated bureau-
ing and the semiparalyzed economy
obscures sorne solid fac,ts. Debates
and referendums are safer than bu l–
lets; separatisrn in both ends of the
count ry has met checks; the tradi–
tional institutions of Confederation
have emerged secure from a scvere
test of nationhood.
How has Canada survived?
11