A friend of mine from Pakistan, who studied in Canada, has been following the Idle No More movement via my Facebook posts.
She recently pointed out that Canada had come ‘off the track’ in terms of its reputation among the family of nations for exemplary action.
Here’s my response.
I am sad to say that most of the respect that has been directed Canada’s way has been a mixture of hope, and projection, perhaps tempered with enthusiasm for a given leader at a given moment.
The truth is we traded in colonial status for colonial practices. Even that thin sliver of myth in which we saw ourselves as a tolerant people sharing a fertile land was never true in more than little pockets.
This is a nation of exploitation: of the land, of the First Nations people, of the environment, of the hopes of immigrants, and indeed, even of the best parts of our own history, now turned around and used to sell us coffee and doughnuts.
Ken Kesey said Canada was ‘nutted by the resourcers while the hosers drank beer and watched hockey.’ Such has been our willful ignorance as the water was poisoned and drained away, the First Nations treaties flouted, the forests felled.
Is there hope, asked my friend?
Of course there is hope. But first must come awareness. Canadians don’t know their own history, and are little-tuned to the world at large. We rail at the Americans for their myopia, but ours is worse, as we feed on their leftovers.
We live on a mass media diet and have lost our relationship with the land. And to make it all worse, we think we’re great, when what we really are is lucky.
This is not to say there is no greatness here. It is a great land. And we have laid claim to some great people (many of whom have left and not returned after achieving greatness.)
Historically, we have had two key character traits that might have led us to greatness: humility, and potential. The first has crumbled into ignorance, cynicism, self-importance, and moral righteousness, leading to a sickening sense of entitlement and apathy. And the second depended on the first.
The way forward is back: to a worshipful relationship with the land, a respectful relationship among people, a sense of our small place in the world, and a collective commitment to decency and compassion.
Oh, Canada.