O Canada, Our Home and Native Land?

Does an immigrant have to deny his native culture to be a good Canadian? I believe that a person who cherishes his native culture will make a better Canadian than the one who does not care one way or the other.

The Greatest National Anthem in the World

If you love music, if you have an ear for a pleasing melody, if the intricacies of Bach's harmonic progressions intrigue you, then you will love our national anthem, "O Canada." I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, just as I had fallen in love with Johann Sebastian Bach's music a few years previously.

Our Home and Native Land?

O Canada! Our home and native land!/True patriot love in all thy sons command.
It was my first day in school in a strange land. I had no problem with the language. I had studied English in school for 5 years under teachers who were perfectly fluent and who employed teaching methods which were not practiced in Canada until another 20 years.
No, language was not the problem. Miss Vant, my homeroom teacher, bless her soul, was a kind lady. She gave me a copy of the text so that I would be able to sing along the following day. Came the next singing of "O Canada," and I was still silent. Miss Vant patiently explained the words to me. Oh, I understood the words, and that was exactly my problem. I understood them too well.
The problem? Canada was not my native land. Was it my homeland? Not yet. I love to sing, but I could not sing words which were not true for me.

Not yet a Canadian

I had been in this country for five months, and during that time, I got fired from one sewing factory after another because of my incessant coughing. The synthetic fiber dust in those factories produced a breathing problem which has plagued me ever since. After getting fired for the fourth time one Friday morning, I registered in school that afternoon. I knew that I would never darken the doors of a sewing factory again.
To declare that Canada was my home and native land on my first day in class was more than I was prepared to do. I did not want to hurt the feelings of kind Miss Vant, so I did not explain my dilemma to her.

Is an immigrant a good Canadian?

What do we expect of immigrants when we invite them to come to this country? Since many of them are fleeing from oppressive governments, we may expect them to embrace our culture with open arms and a thankful heart. Are those expectations justified?
The copyright of the article O Canada, Our Home and Native Land? in Natural Health is owned by Traute Klein, biogardener. Permission to republish O Canada, Our Home and Native Land? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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