Canada should cheer friendship, not conflict of 1812

[Locutus]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will spend $28 million to re-gird Canadian loins - presumably to make us more patriotic - by extolling the War of 1812.
It would appear the Conservative government, unhappy with the level of our chest-thumping, disappointed by our seeming lack of patriotic spirit, believes by using our money to celebrate the War of 1812, it will make us what? More militaristic?
There will be re-enactment of historical battles, festivals, commemorative stamps and coins and the ritual sacrifice of virgins.

Read more: Canada should cheer friendship, not conflict of 1812


Virgins? Cool man!


Pssst...Hey Steve...don't be an idiot. This is a bonehead move chum.

;-)
​

 

[DurkaDurka]

What a waste of money. Apply that 28 million toward deficit reduction or free hookers and blows, thanks Steve.

 

[Locutus]

Very boneheaded indeed.

 

[WLDB]

The British and Americans are probably going to just ignore the anniversary.

 

[mentalfloss]

 

[damngrumpy]

Why don't you know Harper still wants to go down in history as a wartime Prime Minister.
I remember getting surveys on line asking if he fit the image. I think it is a great image.
Think about it, Steve wants to be thought of as a wartime Prime Minister, and he picks
the war of 1812 just like his thoughts for reforming the justice system they are after all
the mentality of 1812 ideas and thinking.

Yes this is crazy, and a hell of a waste of money. Kind of goes with the idea of hiring a
firm and spending millions to discover how to save money. This government under Harper
is now looking for a way to be remembered in history and I have nothing against that, but
be remembered for the positive things you did not this nonsense. And regardless of
whether you are Liberal, NDP or Conservative, you have to think in terms of just getting the
job done, not about a personal agenda and how historically you will be remembered.
Fact is coins are updated from time to time and that is natural and serves a useful purpose
but subject matter can be much more positive than the subject chosen here.
Canadians are patriotic its just we don't feel we have to demonstrate that every ten minutes.
I see all these people south of the boarder with their hand over their heart and all that stuff
and that is fine but its not the Canadian way. We have contributed just as much to the
advancement of the global society as anyone else so what's the big deal.
I am neither a peace or a war monger, and there are two extremes, but I don't think we should
celebrate a war that we were not really part of, Canada was occupied by the British at the time.
Oh we somehow forgot about that. It wasn't until much later in the century we actually moved
to our own nation and it wasn't until sometime around 1965 we bothered to proclaim our own
flag.

 

[Machjo]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will spend $28 million to re-gird Canadian loins - presumably to make us more patriotic - by extolling the War of 1812.
It would appear the Conservative government, unhappy with the level of our chest-thumping, disappointed by our seeming lack of patriotic spirit, believes by using our money to celebrate the War of 1812, it will make us what? More militaristic?
There will be re-enactment of historical battles, festivals, commemorative stamps and coins and the ritual sacrifice of virgins.

Read more: Canada should cheer friendship, not conflict of 1812​

Virgins? Cool man!​

Pssst...Hey Steve...don't be an idiot. This is a bonehead move chum. ​

;-)​

Honestly, I think Harper is also confusing patriotism with nationalism here. Chest-thumping and national arrogance have nothing to do with patriotism.

 

[lone wolf]

If he wants to celebrate a war, maybe he could choose one that this Nation was actually involved in

 

[damngrumpy]

Machjo i agree there is a difference but we were not even a country then.
This is so silly at best Look at all the things Canada has done in the time
it has been a nation. In sport, science, in peace keeping and in politics on
the world stage. There are a lot better things to put on a coin that this.

 

[Tonington]

Working on the things that matter to Canadians....down with first past the post, and keep minority governments!

 

[Machjo]

Machjo i agree there is a difference but we were not even a country then.
This is so silly at best Look at all the things Canada has done in the time
it has been a nation. In sport, science, in peace keeping and in politics on
the world stage. There are a lot better things to put on a coin that this.

I agree, but I was focusing more on the fact that too many politicians (and voters) do confuse nationalism for patriotism, when the two are clearly not the same thing at all.

 

[mentalfloss]

Liberal minister hints citizenship guide's trumpeting of War of 1812 victory will be pared down
canada.com | Canada's great, shareable stories
There is a lot of overlap between the guides the U.S. and Canada give new citizens; both tell newcomers the countries are built on native land, people can choose any religion they want and nobody is “above the law.”

But in one glaring difference, they both proudly claim they were victorious in the War of 1812.

“The Americans won the war,” declares a 34-page civics guide issued to prospective citizens by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Canadian guide notes the pre-Confederation British colonies “defeated an American invasion.”

“Believing it would be easy to conquer Canada, the United States launched an invasion in June 1812,” reads page 17 of Discover Canada.

“The Americans were mistaken.”

On the weekend, Immigration Minister John McCallum hinted the Canadian citizenship guide’s retelling of the War of 1812 would be pared down.

“If you ask an average Canadian what Canada means, maybe they’ll say hockey, maybe they’ll say something else, they’re not likely to say the War of 1812,” he told CBC’s The House on Saturday.

Saying that the guide was threaded through by an “ideological element,” McCallum added, “I’m not anti-military, but I do think it was a little heavy on the military.”

Altogether, military matters — including the First World War, the Second World War, and details of the Canadian Forces — take up about 1,500 words of the guide’s 40,000 words.

American proclamations they triumphed in the War of 1812 is nothing new — they have long fuelled the myth that, before Vietnam, the United States had never lost a war.

Alan Taylor, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian at the University of Virginia, says both countries are right.

While the Canadian provinces successfully repelled a much larger U.S. invasion force, the United States arguably held its own in the wider conflict, which included naval battles and British actions against the American South.

“The war is much more than just the American invasion of Canada,” said Taylor.

Liberal minister hints citizenship guide's trumpeting of War of 1812 victory will be pared down

 

[Blackleaf]

The British and Americans are probably going to just ignore the anniversary.

The War of 1812 isn't a big deal in Britain. We prefer to celebrate our victories in WWI (over the Bosch) and WWII (over the Bosch) and the Falklands (over the Argies) and what not. Last year we celebrated the 200th anniversary of our victory at Waterloo (over the Frogs) and the 600th anniversary of our victory at Agincourt (over the Frogs).

 

[Dixie Cup]

...ah, another piece of Canadian history down the tubes. Pretty soon we simply won't have any and Canada will have come into existence by .........."poof and ta da" and there we were.


Huh!

 

[taxslave]

TrudOWE wants to make the country as bland and useless as he is.

 

[pgs]

...ah, another piece of Canadian history down the tubes. Pretty soon we simply won't have any and Canada will have come into existence by .........."poof and ta da" and there we were.


Huh!

What do we do with all the statues around Ontario commemorating people and events of that time ?

 

[petros]

Liberal minister hints citizenship guide's trumpeting of War of 1812 victory will be pared down
canada.com | Canada's great, shareable stories
There is a lot of overlap between the guides the U.S. and Canada give new citizens; both tell newcomers the countries are built on native land, people can choose any religion they want and nobody is “above the law.”

But in one glaring difference, they both proudly claim they were victorious in the War of 1812.

“The Americans won the war,” declares a 34-page civics guide issued to prospective citizens by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Canadian guide notes the pre-Confederation British colonies “defeated an American invasion.”

“Believing it would be easy to conquer Canada, the United States launched an invasion in June 1812,” reads page 17 of Discover Canada.

“The Americans were mistaken.”

On the weekend, Immigration Minister John McCallum hinted the Canadian citizenship guide’s retelling of the War of 1812 would be pared down.

“If you ask an average Canadian what Canada means, maybe they’ll say hockey, maybe they’ll say something else, they’re not likely to say the War of 1812,” he told CBC’s The House on Saturday.

Saying that the guide was threaded through by an “ideological element,” McCallum added, “I’m not anti-military, but I do think it was a little heavy on the military.”

Altogether, military matters — including the First World War, the Second World War, and details of the Canadian Forces — take up about 1,500 words of the guide’s 40,000 words.

American proclamations they triumphed in the War of 1812 is nothing new — they have long fuelled the myth that, before Vietnam, the United States had never lost a war.

Alan Taylor, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian at the University of Virginia, says both countries are right.

While the Canadian provinces successfully repelled a much larger U.S. invasion force, the United States arguably held its own in the wider conflict, which included naval battles and British actions against the American South.

“The war is much more than just the American invasion of Canada,” said Taylor.

Liberal minister hints citizenship guide's trumpeting of War of 1812 victory will be pared down

It was American military leaders who homesteaded in Canada that lead the defense ultimately beating attacking Americans.

 

[Curious Cdn]

It was American military leaders who homesteaded in Canada that lead the defense ultimately beating attacking Americans.

That's very true. I have some of that in my own family where a predecessor fought for the American Revolution for the Republican cause, migrated to Queenston Heights from New York and his offspring fought for Upper Canada at Beaverdams.

 

[MHz]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will spend $28 million to re-gird Canadian loins - presumably to make us more patriotic - by extolling the War of 1812.
It would appear the Conservative government, unhappy with the level of our chest-thumping, disappointed by our seeming lack of patriotic spirit, believes by using our money to celebrate the War of 1812, it will make us what? More militaristic?
There will be re-enactment of historical battles, festivals, commemorative stamps and coins and the ritual sacrifice of virgins.

Read more: Canada should cheer friendship, not conflict of 1812


Virgins? Cool man!


Pssst...Hey Steve...don't be an idiot. This is a bonehead move chum.

;-)
​

The war was won by the Canadian Barmaids during the winter ceasefire as all the plans of the Americans was leaked out by drunken Us Officers. We should celebrate that every winter, all winter.

 

[Curious Cdn]

The war was won by the Canadian Barmaids during the winter ceasefire as all the plans of the Americans was leaked out by drunken Us Officers. We should celebrate that every winter, all winter.

You should tell that to the people in Niagara-on-the-Lake who's forbearers were turned out of their homes in a snow storm just before Christmas by US troops who made them watch as they burned their entire town down and all of their possessions.

They just celebrated the 200th anniversary of that a couple of years ago with a BIG bonfire, just across the river from Youngstown NY.