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Canadians VALUE . . . a True North Dozen

© J. M. Bridgeman

Value #1 PEACE: I was listening to a CBC radio interview of Canadian historian Desmond Morton talking about how Canada has been, at least since the last battles between foreign nations fought on this soil (1814), a nation valuing PEACE. We were forced to be a peaceful nation, he says, because after that war, Great Britain decided that the cost of defense in such a large sparsely populated land far from Mother England was too great. After a cost-benefit analysis, it was decided to abandon the old imperial policy, and to abandon those remaining colonies by gradually withdrawing, encouraging responsible government, union, and eventual independence. Fifty years later, Canada emerged.

This is a bit of a back-handed compliment. Typically Canadian, you could say. "We may not be aggressive, but we're peaceful. We may not be boastful, but we're self-deprecating." What are some of the other values we hold to be TRULY CANADIAN, and how, historically, did we come to value them?

Value #2 FAIRNESS / JUSTICE: Canadians did not seek to conquer and exterminate the native peoples of this land. From the 16th century on, newcomers hired First Nations, formed strategic alliances with them, made treaties with them before moving in (except in BC), assured them lands in reserve, and guaranteed their rights in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Although some First Nations might see this differently, and history documents times when we have failed to live up to our goals, as a generalization, Canadians value JUST TREATMENT of all people.

Value #3 TOLERANCE, INCLUSIVENESS, BI- or MULTI-CULTURALISM: Great Britain permitted the French-Canadians to keep their language and religion and culture after the war (1763 / 1774). Although there were sound strategic reasons for doing this, and alternate solutions had been attempted and failed in Acadia, the Quebec Act became law and we have never repealed it. Subsequent constitutional documents have reaffirmed the principle of two founding nations. Those who argue for assimilation, for a cultural puree rather than stew, who let their own insecurities surface as negative anti-French or anti-other rhetoric, are speaking against a more than 200-year-old legal tradition, a tradition to be proud of, which helps create our unique identity in North America.

Value #4 LOYALTY: We didn't revolt against King George III when others did in 1776; we remained a monarchy welcoming exiled Loyalists from the revolting colonies. The constitutional monarch evolved to a figurehead role, evoking our history and our mainly British-inspired institutions such as parliament and political parties. Today the Queen is ably represented by a strong Canadian woman who emigrated to Canada as a child from Asia. Canadians have demonstrated their LOYALTY many times over, volunteering to join Empire forces in South Africa and World War I, and declaring war ASAP (a week after London, as MPs had to travel to Ottawa for the vote) in World War II.