As we approach our 150th Anniversary as the Queen's Dominion called Canada, I must admit that I am troubled. But given the goodwill and excitement that surrounds this particular Canada Day, I also don't want to be a complete grump.
So, what is the authentic way to write my concerns about where our country is headed while still raising a glass in solidarity with the 150th celebration in principle? As with all things Canadian, I need only turn to our very human father and founder, Sir John A. Macdonald.
We like to caricature our first prime minister as a drunkard, a comical foil, or perhaps even a Canadian version of Falstaff had he also been a parliamentary genius in his spare time. But the truth is that Sir John A. Macdonald was first and foremost a Scotsman. He was born in what Rome called Caledonia and then came to Canada with his family. His own mother preferred to speak Gaelic and still held animosities towards certain clans who had attacked their line of ancestors a mere century before.
In fact, when Canada was newly born, we were so Scottish we elected another Scotsman, Alexander Mackenzie, to fight John A. from the opposition bench. Mackenzie also refused to be knighted, giving birth to our republican elements long before the Quiet Revolution.
Today, our public events accompany the bagpipes and the intense regionalism that dominates our politics at every level is indicative of ye olde Scotland where tartans, religion and land had a serious bearing on everyday life.
I can already hear the sophomore's question looming - so what? Well, if we take it as a given that we are indeed the brainchild of some very Scottish parents, politically speaking, and if we understand that many of the issues raised by Fathers of Confederation - interprovincial trade and transportation, our relationship to the United States and our relationship to the world (first through Britain), Indian status and title, the division of powers, bilingualism - are still with us today, then it only follows that understanding our history is first step to solving our problems.
And this is the crux of the argument: at our centenary, 50 years ago, we stopped looking to our history to help us understand our current problems or better elucidate what solutions might be offered; our political class began to use ahistorical methods and the electorate continued in its rather conservative and skeptical view towards government (which is quite Scottish), setting the stage for decades of unprecedented policy changes from the single elected House in Ottawa.
I will dwell on the implications of all this after the weekend. I wish you all a very happy Canada Day. If nothing else, at least we can all raise a glass to our brilliant founder.
