I love Canada, but hate Canada Day
For me, Canada day happens when we win a big hockey game or we defeat separatists who are themselves trying to create a nation. Ironic, eh?
As a child, I was often excited at the idea of watching the crackling fireworks and the spit-shined luster of the Mounties on Parliament Hill. As I grew older, I noticed a great deal more was afoot on what we should most surely call anarchy day. I mean, no laws are actually enforced, right?
To be honest, what I see every year in downtown Ottawa is not truly in the spirit of patriotism, rather, it is the tacit acceptance of behaviour that would otherwise be illegal. Hundreds of thousands of people descent to within three blocks of where I live and they leave a huge mess. They come to Ottawa, revel in and around our gothic architecture and invest millions in the local transient economy. Why is that? On any other day of the year, that boorish temperament would be completely foreign. This year it went too far because someone peed on a statue. Puh-lease. It was bad before, and if they were wizzing on the monument dedicated to Canadian Women pioneers for democracy, it would be just as offensive to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I used to celebrate the birth of our nation with the same selfless vigor that I see in downtown Ottawa on the first day of July, but after some careful self-reflection, I realized that I was not celebrating Canada day per se. Rather, I was taking advantage of a collective dreamscape to act like a teenager, and selfishly get away with it. This unruly nationalist, one with whom the average Ottawan has seen on Canada day or photographed at the cenotaph, is full of life, full of joy, and loaded with Canadian spirit. I don’t have a problem with someone having a beer or three on Canada day, but it often takes much more then that to induce the “screaming patriotism” that would normally be found rooting for Manchester United.
The fact that Canadian nationalism is seemingly induced has always kind of bothered me. If not by the celebratory day, then by the spirits that accompany it. Are these men imitating a founding father, or (as I suspect) are they just acting like idiots? Most importantly, would the majority of these folks act the same way with a blood alcohol level below 0.08%?
The drunks I can at least hose down. The capitalist patriot is the one that really bothers me. I am not saying that providing services to those celebrating our glorious nation is anti-Canadian. Rather, I am being critical of those who are amassing obscene amounts of capital in so doing. On any other night, admission and a beer at a local pub or bar would be well under ten dollars. Canada day? Hah. They are just fueling the nationalism described above. I will admit that there are other capitalists who are being just as resourceful on the holiest of Canadian days. But there is profiting and profiteering, and the latter off of patriotism of others is morally repugnant. Water costs four dollars a bottle. Cheap trinkets cost even more. And I am sure they report every penny to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Perhaps Canadians have a maturity about them that extends beyond the superficial celebration of our roots on a daily basis, but can be collected annually and vented properly out of our systems until the next fretful summer. Somehow, however, I doubt that is the case. I noticed that on Canada Day, flags become much more apparent in our fair city then on any other day of the year. It is not interesting that more Canadians choose to put up a flag on their house on that day; it is interesting that many Canadians take them down the day after. Methinks that this manifestation of nationalism is a tad shallow, and ultimately is only done because it is fashionable.
I have found that Americans celebrate their nationalism on July 4th, whereas Canadians become nationalistic on July 1st. As a Canadian, I am often critical of over zealous American nationalism, but it has something that is surprisingly attractive: consistency. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer convenient nationalism to the fervent nationalism found in the south. God blessed America already, move on.
Of course, at the same time, people deface national monuments because a) they don’t know better or b) there are no guardsmen there to shoot them. The over-reaction of our lifetime is to create a police state around the cenotaph, but somehow I doubt that the tomb of the unknown solider in the U.S. would ever need a guard, despite it being there 24-7. Maybe, there is a benefit to reciting the bill of rights every day.
As a child, I was often excited at the idea of watching the crackling fireworks and the spit-shined luster of the Mounties on Parliament Hill. As I grew older, I noticed a great deal more was afoot on what we should most surely call anarchy day. I mean, no laws are actually enforced, right?
To be honest, what I see every year in downtown Ottawa is not truly in the spirit of patriotism, rather, it is the tacit acceptance of behaviour that would otherwise be illegal. Hundreds of thousands of people descent to within three blocks of where I live and they leave a huge mess. They come to Ottawa, revel in and around our gothic architecture and invest millions in the local transient economy. Why is that? On any other day of the year, that boorish temperament would be completely foreign. This year it went too far because someone peed on a statue. Puh-lease. It was bad before, and if they were wizzing on the monument dedicated to Canadian Women pioneers for democracy, it would be just as offensive to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I used to celebrate the birth of our nation with the same selfless vigor that I see in downtown Ottawa on the first day of July, but after some careful self-reflection, I realized that I was not celebrating Canada day per se. Rather, I was taking advantage of a collective dreamscape to act like a teenager, and selfishly get away with it. This unruly nationalist, one with whom the average Ottawan has seen on Canada day or photographed at the cenotaph, is full of life, full of joy, and loaded with Canadian spirit. I don’t have a problem with someone having a beer or three on Canada day, but it often takes much more then that to induce the “screaming patriotism” that would normally be found rooting for Manchester United.
The fact that Canadian nationalism is seemingly induced has always kind of bothered me. If not by the celebratory day, then by the spirits that accompany it. Are these men imitating a founding father, or (as I suspect) are they just acting like idiots? Most importantly, would the majority of these folks act the same way with a blood alcohol level below 0.08%?
The drunks I can at least hose down. The capitalist patriot is the one that really bothers me. I am not saying that providing services to those celebrating our glorious nation is anti-Canadian. Rather, I am being critical of those who are amassing obscene amounts of capital in so doing. On any other night, admission and a beer at a local pub or bar would be well under ten dollars. Canada day? Hah. They are just fueling the nationalism described above. I will admit that there are other capitalists who are being just as resourceful on the holiest of Canadian days. But there is profiting and profiteering, and the latter off of patriotism of others is morally repugnant. Water costs four dollars a bottle. Cheap trinkets cost even more. And I am sure they report every penny to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Perhaps Canadians have a maturity about them that extends beyond the superficial celebration of our roots on a daily basis, but can be collected annually and vented properly out of our systems until the next fretful summer. Somehow, however, I doubt that is the case. I noticed that on Canada Day, flags become much more apparent in our fair city then on any other day of the year. It is not interesting that more Canadians choose to put up a flag on their house on that day; it is interesting that many Canadians take them down the day after. Methinks that this manifestation of nationalism is a tad shallow, and ultimately is only done because it is fashionable.
I have found that Americans celebrate their nationalism on July 4th, whereas Canadians become nationalistic on July 1st. As a Canadian, I am often critical of over zealous American nationalism, but it has something that is surprisingly attractive: consistency. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer convenient nationalism to the fervent nationalism found in the south. God blessed America already, move on.
Of course, at the same time, people deface national monuments because a) they don’t know better or b) there are no guardsmen there to shoot them. The over-reaction of our lifetime is to create a police state around the cenotaph, but somehow I doubt that the tomb of the unknown solider in the U.S. would ever need a guard, despite it being there 24-7. Maybe, there is a benefit to reciting the bill of rights every day.
posted by Atlas Hugged at
8:59 a.m.
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