Popped up on my FB feed, and couldn't agree more.
"I’ll take Canadian kindness over American exceptionalism - thank you,
Kenneth Newby "I’m probably the least likely person to write a column on national pride. I’ve never been a fan of excessive “look at us” flag-waving patriotism. Mostly because it often brings out the worst in people, routinely degenerating into self-centred exceptionalism.
But Donald Trump’s recent “joke” about making Canada the 51st U.S. state requires not so much a rebuttal, but a reminder. Frankly, I’d be indifferent to Trump’s latest inelegant and bullish political power move if certain prominent Canadians, like Kevin O’Leary, hadn’t been so willing to stroke his ego and consider the possibility. Even though most Canadians wouldn’t even entertain the idea. And why should they?
I like the U.S.; I even love parts of it. Some of the nicest and brightest people I know are American. But, with respect to our southern neighbours, I have no desire to emulate them or import their worst instincts.
The U.S. is a country where individualism not only reigns, but is routinely celebrated over the common good. Where the right to bear arms consistently and tragically supersedes children’s right to live. Where GoFundMe campaigns often substitute for humane, universal health care.
I much prefer a country built around the notion of a collective social contract — of safeguards ensuring the most vulnerable aren’t left behind.
Does Canada have a perfect system? Not remotely. It’s occasionally even shake-your-head terrible. But even at our worst, the premise and the promise we’re fashioned on is still better than the U.S. system. I have yet to meet a Canadian who had to remortgage their home to pay for cancer treatments, or had to teach their kids safety drills in anticipation of the next school shooting. We may share the longest unprotected border, but we’re not the same.
The U.S. represents itself with a sharp-taloned predatory eagle, emanating aggressive strength. One of our most prominent national symbols is an industrious dam-building herbivore rodent that slaps its tail when alarmed. That, and the maple leaf. A tree that yields syrup one pours on pancakes. The Great White North is a little more chill, is what I mean.
I like living in a country where Saskatchewan’s Tommy Douglas fought for universal, publicly funded health care and Quebec’s Pauline Marois implemented affordable, subsidized daycare. A country where paid parental leave extends up to 18 months. Where emergency surgery only sets you back in hospital parking fees. A country where a University of Toronto research team discovered insulin, one of the greatest medical achievements of the 20th century, and decided to sell the patent for $1 each, making it accessible to all. A country that doesn’t have the death penalty. Where women’s reproductive choices are rarely up for debate and certainly not curtailed by religion.
Like many countries, Canada is dealing with enormous challenges: homelessness, lack of affordability, health-care cuts, housing shortages, sliding living standards, questionable foreign policy decisions, political polarization.
But spare me the “Canada is broken” narratives. Much certainly needs fixing, but in a country that consistently ranks near the top of international lists for quality of life, safety and freedom, much is also working well.
And contrary to what some pundits have been saying, we certainly haven’t lost our national identity. Mainly because we’ve never really had one cohesive national narrative to begin with. It’s probably what I appreciate the most about Canada: how it manages to incorporate different — sometimes even diametrically opposed — elements and yet we mostly peacefully coexist.
Besides, is there anything more Canadian than Canadians bemoaning the lack of a national identity?
Long before this argument was used as a convenient political catchphrase, Marshall McLuhan argued that “Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity.”
He said that in 1963. Over 60 years ago.
And here we still are. Knowing exactly what we prefer. And what we don’t.
So, thanks for the offer, Mr. Trump, but non merci. :
-By Toula Drimonis January 03, 2025 5:00 AM| By @montrealgazette
Toula Drimonis is a Montreal journalist and the author of We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada."