July 2004 Would You Like Poutine With That? Canadians — The un-Americans Amanda Aikman Managing Editor cma! ‘Im not an American! I am a Canadian. I come from a “nice,” thoroughly unrealistic country.” Matthew Fisher “We Canadians live in a blind spot about our identity. We have very strong feelings about who we aren't, but only weak ones about who we are. We're passionate about what we don't want to become but oddly pas- sive about what we should be.” John Cruickshank “The US is our trading partner, our neighbour, our ally and our friend...and sometimes we'd like to give them such a smack!” Rick Mercer Canadian. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the word Canadian? Hockey? Beer? Maple leaves? Or perhaps a soft-spo- ken, tree-planting, touque-wearing, peacekeeper with a great medical plan and a soft spot for curling and Rita McNeil. Whatever you envision, the important thing is that it is not an American. Because that word evokes a whole other knowledge structure— one that we Canadians tend to shy away from. That of the gun-toting, flag-waving, money-grubbing, self- important loudmouth. Of course, both of these clichéd perceptions can easily be discredited. There are plenty of open-minded, well-mannered Americans in The Land of the Free, and there are certainly more than a few close-minded, bad-mannered Canadians up here in the Great White North. So why do we continue to buy into and perpetuate the image of the polite, unobtrusive—un- American—Canadian? Why do we continue to define ourselves by what we arent, eh? When Canadians travel abroad, their backpacks are often proudly emblazoned with their homeland’s flag: but not too proudly, that would border on the distasteful, overt patri- otism of our American neighbours. You'll notice that in the previous sen- tence “neighbours” has a “u” in it. Just like “colour” and “humour” do around these parts. We Canucks might not be able to compete with the amount of guns the Yanks are packing, but we've got a heck of a lot more “U”S than the US will ever have. We are different, and we want the world to know it. We put the “r” before the “e” in centre. See world, we told you we were different. Canadians want to be viewed as ° more than Americans Lite. We want to be distinct. Of course we already are. We have our own unique cultur- al heritage, which is reflected.on a daily basis in our literature, arts, sports and politics. Yet we still embrace a simplified generalization of what it means to be Canadian. Why? In the year 2000, the Molson Canadian company ran a series of award-winning television commer- cials wherein an “average” Canadian named Joe espoused the virtues of Canadianism. These virtues were all about what Canadians “weren't,” not what they were. The ad played with the concepts of Canadian clichés by bringing them out and denouncing them (“I am not a lumberjack, or a fur trader, and I don’ live in an igloo or eat blubber”) but at the same time worked within other clichés to encourage identification with, and Patriotism is Just Another ‘Ism’ Kali Thurber Opinions Editor RORY Na eNO MME SCe LORCA Te Meee VIN MUTT Comets Jpinions support from, their audience (“I pro- nounce it ‘about’ not ‘a-boot,’ I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack”). Canadian audiences embraced the campaign, buying not only the product but also the tired clichés being sold to them. Sadly the biggest cliché of all was the fact that it took a “beer” commercial to get Canadians thinking about what it meant to be Canadian. Working with the image of the Canadian, whether perpetuating it or challenging it, can be an effective means of communicating certain concepts and images. It is an eco- nomical device—with just one word you can evoke images of buck- toothed red-coated Mounties, maple-flavoured donuts, and the entire cast of the Beachcombers. Playing with the idea of how we are perceived by others (as individuals, as a country, as an ideal) can stimulate a new, and possibly bet- ter, understanding of how we perceive ourselves. Regardless of whether we can all identify with every stereotypi- cal connotation conjured up by the word “Canadian,” we can probably all agree on what the word doesn’t mean: American. beavers, the luxury of being these two things separately. If Confession number one: sometimes, late at night, when sleep has become a pastime that other peo- ple waste themselves with, I stare red-eyed into the egg-shell white pages of my dictionary and truly believe that all the secrets of our culture are soaked in its ink. On better days, the definitions that lay there, unashamed, seem to speak an entirely separate language from the Canadian- English that I hear and see in my daily life. Confession number two: today is not one of those REN Today I thought about patriotism. The word is almost intuitively positive—nobody ever says, “Oh, he’s a patriot,” with a nasty smirk on their face. It’s as if we've forgotten, or perhaps never knew, what lies behind the word. The sea of unrecognized implications can be sickening, trust you me. You see, as unlikely as it is for someone one to say “racist” in a positive tone. In essence, these two words are one. In Funk & Wagnall’s Canadian College Dictionary a patriot is defined as, “one who loves his country and zealously guards its welfare.” And racism is, “a belief that people differ significantly and systematically, as in ability, intellect, etc., because of racial differ- ences.” Do we see the pattern here—the answer is, yes, | believe we do. To desperately adore the race you were born into is a sin, a constitutional error, a social no-no, but to “zealously” love the country you were born in makes you commendable, an upstanding citi- zen, and a “patriot” (spoken with no sneer). In the majority of this world’s countries, these words are interchangeable in meaning, due to the fact that most children born into them are the same race. And if you are a patriot, as I’ve defined it, you are inevitably a racist. However, Canadians are given you are a true Canadian patriot, chances are that you are not a racist, given that our immigration policy is, at least relatively, lax. And so, on a defi- nitional level Canada has no reigning race, and therefore few racists under the facade of patriots. The only sinless patriotism, as I see it, however, is that of world patriotism. Have you ever seen a world flag? 1 didn't think so. But they exist— maybe only in the dusty corners of ex-hippy’s attics, or the tickle trunks of jokesters abroad, but still, they do exist. The trouble is that nobody knows how to embrace their “zealous” love for the entire world. The concept is confusing at best, mentally disabling at worst. And because of this, each country will continue striving to be the best, the most powerful, and simultaneously continue its disguised racism (excluding Canada, of eon OtherPress | 7