An earlier historian, W. L. Morton, wrote forty years ago in The Canadian Identity that we are defined by the North, by the line of the frontier between settlement and wilderness that runs across every province and through every Canadian psyche, that we can excuse ourselves and retreat to whenever we choose. I think so. Our relationship to the natural beauty creates a calm centre aware of larger connections.
Value # 11 SPIRITUALITY: Because we tend to live close to nature, even in our beautiful cities, many of us have experienced or remember our first spiritual trembling in landscape, seascape, or skyscape. We recognize that nature and the environment have values other than economic. We know that we human beings did not create this world nor is it ours to destroy. We recognize our relationship to other living creatures. We seek ways to balance the spiritual, the physical, the economic, and the political. We respect the rights of others to express (or to choose not to express) their spirituality in their chosen way.
Value # 12 NON-AGGRESSION / NON-VIOLENCE: I repeat myself, going back to the beginning to remember the historic origins of our reputation as a peaceful nation of PEACE-KEEPERS. But the historic origins are reductive. Living in a harsh land of immense awe-inspiring natural beauty, attempting to learn from our First Nations the proper way to live on this Earth, inviting and welcoming peoples from around the globe to bring their visions and share in the opportunities, respecting our past while building our own vision of our own future, we pride ourselves on the fact that aggression and violence are never our first responses to the disappointments and dangers of an overcrowded inequitable planet. We are a peaceful nation because we believe in PEACE as a goal, because we value PEACE as a tool for keeping our balance.
Well, this is just my humble opinion. We don't always live up to our goals. But the fact that we have goals and values is important to our ability to define ourselves. Can you suggest values that should be added to this list? Let's make it a True Canadian Dozen.
Canadians VALUE: Peace, Justice, Tolerance, Loyalty, Humanity / Human Rights, Respect for Authority, Vision, Equality, Strength, Beauty, Spirituality, Non-Violence. That's what the True North, Strong and Free, means to me. We are a nation of nations, a community of communities, united in our diversities, with values of our own, and proud of it.
