I learn so much about Canadian history every time I read one of your posts. It's great - I'm finally putting together what I grew up in and understanding how things have changed (or should I say degenerated?) over my lifetime.
I was so surprised to read about how advanced Canada was from 1946-1963. I'm GenX, so I grew up in the tail-wind of that period - Canada was already going into decline by my 1970s childhood.
And yet it took a while for things to completely unravel. My husband was an apprentice mechanic in Australia in the mid-80s, and he remembers working with car parts that were stamped, "Made in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada." He thought he was immigrating to a great country when he first came here as a young man.
Things have changed a lot in a very short period of time. It's good to be reminded of what we were - for hundreds of years - before it all started to go south.
Superb. Well done. It is a testament to Trudeau's charlatanism that he's been in power as long as he has. His post-nationalist schtick is wholly anti-Canadian bullshit, but so much of the country bought it hook, line and sinker.
I can understand the need to move away from Harper's conservatism, but it was abundantly clear within Trudeau's first mandate that he and his people were bound and determined to destroy the country, yet we voted for him twice more.
The only lesson I take from the disaster that has been the last nine years is that traditional Canadian conservative principles matter and that leaders and parties who eschew these principles in favor of the mush political middle will fail.
Scheer and O'Toole were basically Liberals, who were compromise choices, and both predictably failed when they should have won. I'm skeptical of how Pierre will govern, but you can't fault the man for most of the policy positions he's taken and his rhetoric.
When he's elected, if he hews closely to the traditional Canadian principles you highlight in your piece, he'll easily win a second majority. Canadians - those of us who were born here or who've been here for thirty years crave Peace, Order and Good Governance - not the bromides and tripe Trudeau, Freeland and Dom Leblanc spout on the daily. They're 21st-century snake oil salesmen of the very worst kind, and they can't be shown the door quickly enough.
Your essay gives me hope that Canada may be the tip of the spear when it comes to reviving whites' respect for our identities. With distinct ethnic pride maintained in Canada, it is not so far gone as to be lost.
Distinct identities are already long gone in the US, the only hope is that we will reembrace our European heritage and values in a pan-European type of way.
You've got the knack for making history meaningful to the present moment, bringing vibrant colour of culture to the bare mechanics of historical facts. Equal parts, historian, sociologist, and anthropologist with dash of poli-sci and just a hint like lemon-zest of a zealot or revolutionary fire. All makes for a compelling and perspective building read.
Thanks for writing this. You capture many of my own thoughts on what it means to be Canadian and what makes Canada unique. I have thought for a long time that the common understanding of Canada as more liberal and the USA as more conservative is in important ways false for the reasons you lay out. It was, after all, the Canadians, both French and English, who did NOT support the American revolution against the British monarchy, while Peace, Order and Good Government could hardly be a more conservative riposte to the definitionally liberal Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of the USA.
One complicating factor, however, is the American influence in Southern Alberta due to the immigration there of Mormons from Utah and Arizona (including both sets of my maternal great-grandparents) in the late 19th and early 20th century due to the easy availability of farm land and their experience with the irrigation techniques that were so valuable in the dry climate of Southern Alberta. This is why Alberta politics are more right-wing, sceptical of the federal government and USA-friendly than other parts of Canada.
I have viewed this article twice and am learning more each time. Sometimes your choice of words leaves many of us missing out on the meaning you wish to express.
Fantastic article! You give me hope that all is not lost for my cousins up North. I mourn for the greatness that Canada and the U.S. enjoyed post WWII. My hope is not that we try go back to what we have lost, but that it inspires us for an even greater future. May Canada have a mighty Air Force and Navy once again. May Canada once again reach for the stars with a space program of their own.
LOL. Hard to think of Canadians as "less liberal" these days, but your question makes sense in the context of "historical" Canadians as described by Fortissax.
I do think our geography and climate have shaped us to a certain degree - but I tend to think our genetics might count for more. Hard to say, really.
But there definitely is something about being forced to deal with reality by a harsh environment that helps one keep one's feet on the ground.
Geography determines society to a significant degree and Canada is no exception. One of the reasons for the less individualistically liberal tendencies of Canada, certainly compared to the USA, is the harsher environment here. The realities of Canadian winters, with temperatures regularly far below freezing (even -40 in Edmonton where I grew up), force a greater degree of collectivist politics compared to warmer climates because of the necessity of housing to survive. Also, the Canadian Shield is a far less hospitable environment than what exists further south. Building the CP rail line north of Lake Superior, rather than routing it through the Northern USA, was considered by many to be a mad scheme, and would not have happened if not for a Canadian government that financed it because of then Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s determination to maintain Canada’s independence from the USA. Northern Ontario, where I now live, was largely developed by the federal and provincial government, and is still subsidized by them, which explains, I think, why its politics are further to the left than those of the more conservative prairie provinces to the west.
As an American, I’ll push back on the idea we are “proposition nation” idealists… we’re actually much more conservative about our ethnic identities, to the extent that liberal Europeans routinely make fun of us for keeping track of them.
It’s similar to how we tend to be more religious than Europeans. In matters of both religion and ethnic identity, on paper we’re liberal, “America is an idea, anyone can become an American”, but de facto are much more guarded about them individually. Catholics in the US, for example, are much more likely to actually believe traditional Catholic tenets than those in Europe or Latin America, especially if they’re GOP voters.
It may in fact prove to be the ultimate undoing of the liberal roots of the republic, as the liberal propositions are only taken seriously nowadays by woke Democrat whites and establishment Republicans of the “National Review” type who are increasingly rejected by the GOP’s voting base. Within the country, the Southern identity is by far the strongest, possibly because the people holding to it are the most right-wing.
You were right to point out that the Revolutionary War was an English Civil War, just like the War for Texas Independence was a Mexican Civil War. There were Americans involved. However, they were Mexican Citizens because the government required land owners to be Mexican Citizens and Catholic to boot.
While Anglo-Americans are cool, I'd prefer European-Americanism to prevail. My family is a mixture of German, Dutch, English, and Irish. I'd prefer European-Americanism because most Europeans speak English, are hard workers, create communities, and look out for each other.
Thanks for this. the differences, the leftist idea that the state is god and the lack of rights as in the American bill of rights are still a mystery, given the similarities, excepting the Tory and French influence. Maybe that is the reason.
Let me add another ethnic conclave to that list: Markham.
A few years ago, I was ony way back home, downtown Toronto, and was passing through Markham. It was around 6pm and nature was calling. I saw a McDonald and went in to use the washroom. A few steps in and I stopped dead in my track. Looking around, all I could see was Chinese folk, including the staff. I looked around, but never found anything other than Chinese moms, dads, and children.
As I was making my way out, I saw a man stepping in. He looked North African, and as soon as he was passed the double doors he too stopped dead in his track and looked around. The look on his face was probably the same I sported a few minutes earlier.
The whole experience felt like living in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
I learn so much about Canadian history every time I read one of your posts. It's great - I'm finally putting together what I grew up in and understanding how things have changed (or should I say degenerated?) over my lifetime.
I was so surprised to read about how advanced Canada was from 1946-1963. I'm GenX, so I grew up in the tail-wind of that period - Canada was already going into decline by my 1970s childhood.
And yet it took a while for things to completely unravel. My husband was an apprentice mechanic in Australia in the mid-80s, and he remembers working with car parts that were stamped, "Made in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada." He thought he was immigrating to a great country when he first came here as a young man.
Things have changed a lot in a very short period of time. It's good to be reminded of what we were - for hundreds of years - before it all started to go south.
Question is, are our roots deeper than the rot?
The admission of your Australian immigrant husband into our great country was the last nail in the coffin, sadly.
Superb. Well done. It is a testament to Trudeau's charlatanism that he's been in power as long as he has. His post-nationalist schtick is wholly anti-Canadian bullshit, but so much of the country bought it hook, line and sinker.
I can understand the need to move away from Harper's conservatism, but it was abundantly clear within Trudeau's first mandate that he and his people were bound and determined to destroy the country, yet we voted for him twice more.
The only lesson I take from the disaster that has been the last nine years is that traditional Canadian conservative principles matter and that leaders and parties who eschew these principles in favor of the mush political middle will fail.
Scheer and O'Toole were basically Liberals, who were compromise choices, and both predictably failed when they should have won. I'm skeptical of how Pierre will govern, but you can't fault the man for most of the policy positions he's taken and his rhetoric.
When he's elected, if he hews closely to the traditional Canadian principles you highlight in your piece, he'll easily win a second majority. Canadians - those of us who were born here or who've been here for thirty years crave Peace, Order and Good Governance - not the bromides and tripe Trudeau, Freeland and Dom Leblanc spout on the daily. They're 21st-century snake oil salesmen of the very worst kind, and they can't be shown the door quickly enough.
Your essay gives me hope that Canada may be the tip of the spear when it comes to reviving whites' respect for our identities. With distinct ethnic pride maintained in Canada, it is not so far gone as to be lost.
Distinct identities are already long gone in the US, the only hope is that we will reembrace our European heritage and values in a pan-European type of way.
You've got the knack for making history meaningful to the present moment, bringing vibrant colour of culture to the bare mechanics of historical facts. Equal parts, historian, sociologist, and anthropologist with dash of poli-sci and just a hint like lemon-zest of a zealot or revolutionary fire. All makes for a compelling and perspective building read.
Thanks for writing this. You capture many of my own thoughts on what it means to be Canadian and what makes Canada unique. I have thought for a long time that the common understanding of Canada as more liberal and the USA as more conservative is in important ways false for the reasons you lay out. It was, after all, the Canadians, both French and English, who did NOT support the American revolution against the British monarchy, while Peace, Order and Good Government could hardly be a more conservative riposte to the definitionally liberal Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of the USA.
One complicating factor, however, is the American influence in Southern Alberta due to the immigration there of Mormons from Utah and Arizona (including both sets of my maternal great-grandparents) in the late 19th and early 20th century due to the easy availability of farm land and their experience with the irrigation techniques that were so valuable in the dry climate of Southern Alberta. This is why Alberta politics are more right-wing, sceptical of the federal government and USA-friendly than other parts of Canada.
I have viewed this article twice and am learning more each time. Sometimes your choice of words leaves many of us missing out on the meaning you wish to express.
Thank you for the feedback Greg. I will work on this.
Fantastic article! You give me hope that all is not lost for my cousins up North. I mourn for the greatness that Canada and the U.S. enjoyed post WWII. My hope is not that we try go back to what we have lost, but that it inspires us for an even greater future. May Canada have a mighty Air Force and Navy once again. May Canada once again reach for the stars with a space program of their own.
Out of curiosity, do you think the climate of Canada with it's harsh winters, also contributes to a more reactionary mindset?
I think our harsh winters have definitely shaped us - but possibly less so these days with all our mod cons.
What do you mean by "reactionary mindset"?
I meant a less liberal way of viewing the world.
LOL. Hard to think of Canadians as "less liberal" these days, but your question makes sense in the context of "historical" Canadians as described by Fortissax.
I do think our geography and climate have shaped us to a certain degree - but I tend to think our genetics might count for more. Hard to say, really.
But there definitely is something about being forced to deal with reality by a harsh environment that helps one keep one's feet on the ground.
Geography determines society to a significant degree and Canada is no exception. One of the reasons for the less individualistically liberal tendencies of Canada, certainly compared to the USA, is the harsher environment here. The realities of Canadian winters, with temperatures regularly far below freezing (even -40 in Edmonton where I grew up), force a greater degree of collectivist politics compared to warmer climates because of the necessity of housing to survive. Also, the Canadian Shield is a far less hospitable environment than what exists further south. Building the CP rail line north of Lake Superior, rather than routing it through the Northern USA, was considered by many to be a mad scheme, and would not have happened if not for a Canadian government that financed it because of then Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s determination to maintain Canada’s independence from the USA. Northern Ontario, where I now live, was largely developed by the federal and provincial government, and is still subsidized by them, which explains, I think, why its politics are further to the left than those of the more conservative prairie provinces to the west.
So Canadians are "reactionary" in the sense of being happy to do as they're told.
As an American, I’ll push back on the idea we are “proposition nation” idealists… we’re actually much more conservative about our ethnic identities, to the extent that liberal Europeans routinely make fun of us for keeping track of them.
It’s similar to how we tend to be more religious than Europeans. In matters of both religion and ethnic identity, on paper we’re liberal, “America is an idea, anyone can become an American”, but de facto are much more guarded about them individually. Catholics in the US, for example, are much more likely to actually believe traditional Catholic tenets than those in Europe or Latin America, especially if they’re GOP voters.
It may in fact prove to be the ultimate undoing of the liberal roots of the republic, as the liberal propositions are only taken seriously nowadays by woke Democrat whites and establishment Republicans of the “National Review” type who are increasingly rejected by the GOP’s voting base. Within the country, the Southern identity is by far the strongest, possibly because the people holding to it are the most right-wing.
You were right to point out that the Revolutionary War was an English Civil War, just like the War for Texas Independence was a Mexican Civil War. There were Americans involved. However, they were Mexican Citizens because the government required land owners to be Mexican Citizens and Catholic to boot.
While Anglo-Americans are cool, I'd prefer European-Americanism to prevail. My family is a mixture of German, Dutch, English, and Irish. I'd prefer European-Americanism because most Europeans speak English, are hard workers, create communities, and look out for each other.
Thanks for this. the differences, the leftist idea that the state is god and the lack of rights as in the American bill of rights are still a mystery, given the similarities, excepting the Tory and French influence. Maybe that is the reason.
Let me add another ethnic conclave to that list: Markham.
A few years ago, I was ony way back home, downtown Toronto, and was passing through Markham. It was around 6pm and nature was calling. I saw a McDonald and went in to use the washroom. A few steps in and I stopped dead in my track. Looking around, all I could see was Chinese folk, including the staff. I looked around, but never found anything other than Chinese moms, dads, and children.
As I was making my way out, I saw a man stepping in. He looked North African, and as soon as he was passed the double doors he too stopped dead in his track and looked around. The look on his face was probably the same I sported a few minutes earlier.
The whole experience felt like living in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Your best work (that I have had the opportunity to read) so far! The question is: where to from here and now?
Good content 👍
Two paragraphs in and wrong already. What rocket did the leaf nation use and where they did launch it from?