[UA] American attitudes and things

[Wade Lahoda]

On 1/11/07, Fco. Javier Rubio <fjrubio at gmail.com> wrote:
> Canada is also a big country, and the do not identify themselves as
> ITALIAN-CANADIANs...

  Am I the only Canadian on the list? :)

  Actually, plenty of people *do* refer to themselves as
[ethnicity/nationality of origin]-Canadians.  Africian-Canadians,
Italian-Canadians, Russian-Canadians...  I would agree that it does
seem to be more common stateside, but it does happen here.  I think,
though, it is more likely to be common among "relatively" recent(first
through third generation, perhaps) immigrants.  The average Canadian's
heritage is just too muddled to really make any sense of that type of
thing - most Canadians when describing their heritage usually list at
least three or four nationalities(I'm
Czech/French/English/Scot/Irish).

  As far as subgroups we divide ourselves into...those tend to be a
lot more based on regionality or history.  We're certainly no older
than the States...in fact, we've existed as a country a lot less time.
 That's probably why we often have more of a sense of country divided
by history, though.  It wasn't that long ago that what are now the
provinces were seperate British colonies.

  The Quebecois definitely have a sense of seperate idea(and in
general, Quebecois means you're from Quebec and have that heritage in
common, wheras French-Canadian could mean you're either from Quebec,
or one of the other French-speaking area, of which there are several
and definitely have distinct identities of their own).  A seperate
identity that has put seperation as a serious national issue several
times, with the FLQ crisis back in the day causing martial law to be
declared in Quebec.  The Newfies(folks from Newfoundland) have a
distinct dialect and culture that is both much-mocked and much loved,
but definitely distinct.  "Up North" is distinct in and of itself, if
simply because of the poverty.  The praries were all settled at around
the same time(roughly 120 years ago), and there is a similliar mix of
immigrant cultures that have blended together into a prarie
spirit(although notably there are still communities where, for
instance, you can get along perfectly well speaking no language but
Ukranian, for instance).  Toronto is practically a seperate country.
:)

  Of course, also good not to underestimate the impact of the various
First Nations peoples...  I get the impression that as discriminated
and marginalized as they have been in Canada, they were treated even
worse in the United States.  Now-a-days in Canada they are definitely
a growing and powerful political force, especially because they are
becoming a larger and larger share of the population in many areas.
And of course a lot of people don't identify themselves as "Native",
but as "Cree", or "Blackfoot", or etc...  The Metis form a very
seperate and distinct cultural block all their own.

  Canada is a union of very seperate cultures that have been pushed
into one big social and economic union.  Oddly enough, there is one
single factor that unites Canada as anything resembling a cultural
identity: We're not Americans.  We consider ourselves more peaceful,
more polite, more charitable, less agressive, less wealthy(and thus
less capitalistic and greedy), more European and more tolerant than
America.  Plus, our sense of humour is more British. ;)  That might be
a big bundle of lies we tell ourselves, but the identity of Canada as
a whole is largely definited as "Not America".  If America had never
unified and become the world power it is, Canada would probably look
at itself more as a loose coalition of colonies than a country.

  Heh, sorry for the bulk of the post, but I had to step up and say
something. :)


-- 
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are
always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell