"We have a huge and abundant landmass amidst a world of congested countries. We are safe, secure and stable. Because of our aboriginal history, their countless nations and their challenge to survive, because of our French and English past of different languages, cultures, religions and laws, because we have people inside our borders today from almost everywhere – we are a country that is learning to live with difference, accept difference, learn from difference, when in the rest of the world difference often, instinctively, still means guns and blood." (See: Ken Dryden).
John Ralston Saul says we are 'A Fair Country'. Saul argues that the famous “peace, order, and good government” that supposedly defines Canada is a distortion of the country’s true nature. Every single document before the BNA Act, he points out, used the phrase “peace, welfare, and good government,” demonstrating that the well-being of its citizenry was paramount.
He also argues that Canada is a Métis nation, heavily influenced and shaped by aboriginal ideas: egalitarianism, a proper balance between individual and group, and a penchant for negotiation over violence are all aboriginal values that Canada absorbed. Another obstacle to progress, Saul argues, is that Canada has an increasingly ineffective elite, a colonial non-intellectual business elite that doesn’t believe in Canada. It is critical that we recognize these aspects of the country in order to rethink its future.
Adrienne Clarkson ,herself an immigrant from China, is a former Governor General & is married to John Ralston Saul. The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson was the 26th person to hold this office. The energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of Canada she brought to Canadians in her six years in Ottawa have left an indelible mark in our nation's history.
John Ralston Saul says we are 'A Fair Country'. Saul argues that the famous “peace, order, and good government” that supposedly defines Canada is a distortion of the country’s true nature. Every single document before the BNA Act, he points out, used the phrase “peace, welfare, and good government,” demonstrating that the well-being of its citizenry was paramount.
He also argues that Canada is a Métis nation, heavily influenced and shaped by aboriginal ideas: egalitarianism, a proper balance between individual and group, and a penchant for negotiation over violence are all aboriginal values that Canada absorbed. Another obstacle to progress, Saul argues, is that Canada has an increasingly ineffective elite, a colonial non-intellectual business elite that doesn’t believe in Canada. It is critical that we recognize these aspects of the country in order to rethink its future.
Adrienne Clarkson ,herself an immigrant from China, is a former Governor General & is married to John Ralston Saul. The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson was the 26th person to hold this office. The energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of Canada she brought to Canadians in her six years in Ottawa have left an indelible mark in our nation's history.
