Defining The Canadian: Where Do We Start?

credit: Sippakorn

A CONVERSATION ABOUT 'CANADIAN'

So what’s this blog all about? Well, I was having a conversation with some friends about cultures around the world. We house foreign students and we were discussing the differences between their various cultures when someone said, “Canadians don’t have a defined culture.” I took exception to this because I am a proud Canadian. However, I had to admit that I could not really describe what a Canadian is.

               

 This blog is looking to answer that question. What is a Canadian? What is it that makes us the greatest country in the world? What do we believe? What do we think about the world? What do we think of where we are going? So, what I am going to do here on my blog is fire some ideas out there and see how you feel. I want to keep this as unpolitical as possible because I believe that Canadians want to trust that each party does have the health of the country at heart. However some things will feel political because the big things we will talk about can affect the entire country.

HOW 'CANADIAN' WORKS

Let’s use a couple of simple examples. Canadians love food. They love all food and it matters not what culture it comes from. This a very broad statement and it does not fit everyone, but if you look around you will be surprised by the diversity of restaurants we love. It is our willingness to try different foods that is our food culture. Of course we have roast beef and mashed potatoes, barbequed salmon, and poutine; but we also have pierogies, shawarma, and beavertails! That is what makes “our food” so terrific.

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Now here is a tougher idea. Canadians do not believe inanimate objects commit crimes. When was the last time your Chevy went out on a bender and hit a telephone pole? When was the last time your computer decided to surf illegal sites? It seems like a simple concept: it takes a person to make the decision to operate these things. However there are people who believe that restricting the public’s access to these things is the answer, not holding the user responsible for his/her own decisions. I posit that Canadians believe the person is accountable, not the car/car company/computer. But do you agree? These are the kind of things I hope people will discuss.

SPEAK UP AND SHARE

 So whether we discuss music, language, multiculturalism, or the Macintosh apple (a Canadian creation!), I hope people will comment and say what they believe makes us Canadian. Tell us what you think Canadians in general like, dislike, love; what will we fight for, favourite things to do, and anything else you can think of. Pierre Burton said you are a Canadian if you can make love in a canoe (a singularly awkward experience, I can assure you) but you have your own ideas and we would love to hear them. Let’s keep it simple. This isn’t social studies class. So have fun!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What makes a Canadian truly Canadian?

Comment below. Share your answers to this question. Together, perhaps we can define the Canadian.