Canadian identity has taken a beating in the last few years. Trudeau referred to us as the “first post-national” country. Certainly his government has behaved accordingly, never missing an opportunity to denigrate our history. Canada’s flaws have been abundantly, if selectively, advertised in the last eight years. So let’s talk about some positives.
Sir John A. Macdonald has been largely “cancelled”. This was a man born in a poor part of Glasgow, brought by his father to Canada as a five-year old in 1820. By dint of his own effort he rose to become an effective leader. The great statesmen of the 19th century, including Gladstone, Bismark, Disraeli and Lincoln, held him in high regard. He was instrumental in helping to stitch together the colonies which had resisted the pull of our southern neighbour into a peaceful kingdom. We didn’t want to be Americans, and Macdonald made sure we could chart our own course.
Much has been said about Macdonald’s relationship with Indigenous peoples. In fact, in those racist times Macdonald was perhaps the best friend they had in government. One example: In 1885 Macdonald introduced legislation to allow “Indians” to vote. Residential schools were initially fairly benign and had the support of many Indigenous people. The toxic turn those schools took happened well after Macdonald’s death.
As an aside, it is worth noting the Chief Sitting Bull led his people across the border into Canada after the battle of the Little Big Horn. He knew that the NWMP and other Canadian institutions would treat them fairly, unlike the United States.
During the First World War Canadians faced the same learning curve as other allies. Canadian general Arthur Currie despaired at the use of troops as cannon fodder in useless offensives. Unlike others, he chose to do something about it. The victories of the last hundred days of the war were often spearheaded by Canadians who were effectively trained, and were the Allied soldiers most feared by the Germans. Our troops played an outsized role in the victory, along side our Australian cousins.
Much the same can be said about the Second World War. For example, the Canadians on D-Day were the only troops to meet their objectives. Show up anywhere in Holland and Canadians are still appreciated as liberators.
Canadian Fredrick Banting discovered insulin in the 1920s, still the most common treatment for diabetes. Banting gave away the patent to the University of Toronto so that patients would not have to pay more for their necessary medication than the cost of production.
During the early years of the Cold War Canada was a valued ally. A charter member of NATO, we wielded an effective and professional armed forces through the 1960s, keeping our commitments.
Canada has been on the forefront of human rights. Perhaps too smugly we watched the upheavals of the civil rights movement down south, but any abuses here paled in comparison.
For those who hate Canada, I could ask why immigration has doubled our population in the last 50 years. When I ask where you would rather live, most people say right here in Canada.
I could go on. Instead I will simply wish you all a Happy Canada Day.