cln4u canadian and international law (ontario)

8/17/2019 CLN4U Canadian and International Law (Ontario)

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CLN4U – Canadian and International Law

Independent Research Paper

Canadian Nationalism and the Culture of Our Great Nation

Benjamin Belovich

21 March 2016

Canadian Nationalism and the Culture of our Great Nation


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Canadian Nationalism and the Culture of Our Great Nation– Benjamin Belovich

What fosters Canadian nationalism? Or at the very least: what makes a Canadian

want to remain a Canadian? Is it our reat love for hockey! our "atronae and culture of

#rench and $nlish or our role in the world? %ierre $lliott &rudeau! the '(th %rime

)inister of Canada! writes in his *ook Federalism, Nationalism and Reason that +will!

rather than the factors of eora"hy! common lanuae! common culture is the most

critical to the foundation of the nation!, -&rudeau./ 0e furthers his "oint *y com"arin

the 1nited 2tates and 2wit3erland to Bra3il and Belium/ 4ll of the states are host to a

variety of cultures and lanuaes! such Belium: #rench and Bra3il: 2"anish! and yet the

former have a much stroner sense of a national *ond than their counter"arts/ 4 factor

that &rudeau attri*utes to a reater 5will6/ What &rudeau fails to reconi3e is that a nation

and a state are not necessarily the same es"ecially in countries such as Canada! where a

multitude of cultural rou"s reside/ &he rihts and interests of the minorities can never *e

truly "laced first *ecause even a re"resentative democracy must ive in to the will of the

majority/ &herefore! for individuals to have will, which holds a country containin

minorities toether! there have to *e one or many incentives in "lace that counteract any

ethnic tensions/ In Canada! these incentives manifest themselves as: history and what is

known as material *enefit/ &hese factors! alon with time and a overnment6s su""ort!

hel" to create a national identity for individuals to *e loyal to! which su*se7uently leads

to civic nationalism/ &herefore! while &rudeau is correct in his su""ort for 5will6! he is

wron to not reconi3e that it oriinates from a larer national identity created *y history

and the ideali3ed *enefits of *ein a nation/

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0istory! or the retellin and discussion of the common shared sacrifices made in

the "ast! can *e used to remind individuals of their common ties and instiate

coo"eration; however! in Canada! history has the "otential to *oth further and harm the

se"aratist cause in in '(9 *y ac7ues Cartier! an e@"lorer

from #rance!, -Canadian $ncyclo"edia.!


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when a British Governor at the time +*latantly vetoed any unfavora*le leislation "ut

forth *y the Canadian assem*ly! -86histoire Hu


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order to com"ensate for their lack of revenues from ta@es/ In many ways! it is indicative

of its weak economy and ina*ility to survive inde"endently/

Interestinly! while


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4mericans seemed like a reasona*le outcome/ 4dditionally! 4merica had also one ahead

and cancelled the BritainK4merica Jeci"rocity treaty! which was +"artly in res"onse to

British su""ort of the 2outh in the 4merican civil war!, -Jeci"rocity./ &his treaty ena*led

an early version of free trade *etween the 1nited 2tates and Canada and without it!

Canada had smaller markets to trade and draw u"on/ &he foundin fathers thouht this

issue could *e made *etter *y Confederation! as Canadians would *e a*le to trade across

"rovinces/ 4ll in all! the Hominion was *orn not as a result of 5necessity!6 *ut rather

*ecause individuals who lived in Canada *elieved it would "rovide su"erior lives for

them and their offs"rin/ &his uidin "hiloso"hy was seen in %rime )inister ohn 4

)acHonald6s actions: +massive infrastructure "rojects such as the interKcolony and

%acific railways and the im"lementation of "rotectionist economic "olicies!, -Canadian

0istory )oments/, 1ltimately! this is an e@am"le of early nation *uildin as a result of

nationalistic sentiment derived from "ressure/ &he scarcity of resources and immediate

threat forced Canadians to come toether and form a nation/ 0owever! this relationshi"

*etween the "eo"le and the overnment; the rihts of the citi3ens to ive or to withdraw

su""ort from a overnment that failed to res"ect its wishes or really! a social contract was

not esta*lished in its entirety until 'A! when &rudeau himself amended the constitution

and added the Charter of Jihts and #reedoms/

In order to retain "ower! overnments often create e@ternal or internal "ressures to

"ush citi3ens towards one "olitical "arty or the other/ In a world with increased economic

and lo*al "ro*lems that have the ca"acity to threaten the *enefits that Canada can

"rovide! citi3ens often find themselves ado"tin more intense nationalistic sentiments/

#or instance! the North 4merican #ree &rade 4lliance -N4#&4. was *itterly

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controversial amonst Canadians! who were +tired of havin their culture 4mericani3ed

and losin jo*s!, -#au@./ Jeturnin to the contentious case of


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&o conclude! nationalism! or the ‘will to be a nation’ is undou*tedly an im"ortant

inredient in the formation and retention of a nation; however! it is o*vious that will does

not inherently e@ist in the minds of individuals *ut that it must *e cultivated *y an

attachment to the ideal of the nation/ &his attachment; however! can only e@ist throuh

the com*ined effect of common interests and ains *ut also a common! shared history/ 4s

the state is involved with *oth the "resentation of history and the makin of decisions for

the country! misste"s or successes have the a*ility to drastically im"act an individual! and

thus the nation/ &herefore! while &rudeau has a "oint when he says: +Will is the

foundation of the nation!, it is im"ortant to remem*er that the will that he s"eaks of is a

"roduct of history and is hihly de"endent on the state/

C8N91 Canadian and International 8aw A


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Bi*liora"hy

Canada Welcomes 0ihest Num*er of 8eal Immirants in (D Mears While &akin

4ction to )aintain the Interity of Canada6s Immiration 2ystem/, Government of

Canada, Citizenshi and !mmi"ration# ' )arch D'/

Canada, Communications $ranch/ N/"/! n/d/ We*/ ' )arch D'/

+Constitution 4cts! 'A to 'A/, %e"islative &ervices $ranch of the Canadian

Government / N/"/! n/d/ We*/ ' )arch D'

+86$ncyclo"die He 86histoire Hu

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