So many ideas come to mind, but one particular reason that I love Canada is the very philosophy that guides our society: peace, order and good government. Our constitution is wise to mention these principles as foundations of our way of life.
Although the American motto of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" explicitly mentions freedom, it is in fact the Canadian incantation that provides for real liberty. The American version has led to the creation of national myths, largely due to the fact that Americans spilled their own blood fighting for their constitution ages ago. This has led to laws constantly being viewed through the lens of "framers' intent," leading in turn to increased polarization in society.
Our constitution, contrary to the American one, was brought home much more recently -- and by a controversial figure at that. Hence, although our Charter contains the language of rights and freedoms, it is not necessarily a unifying document as is the case with the American fundamental law and accompanying declaration of independence.
Therefore, it is in fact due to the will of the people and the values that they imbue in their descendents that Canadians enjoy the freedoms they do -- not due to a piece of paper.
For we in Canada understand that liberty is derived from peace, order and good government. It is only when peace reigns at home that true freedom is afforded to all citizens. The guarantors of this peace -- and hence of this freedom -- are not judges but the Canadian people themselves.
The creation of a diverse yet peaceful society is a cornerstone of Canada's mission. In essence, we are a people with a sense of purpose. And those peoples that understand their purpose in life are demonstrably those that are happiest.
In other words, we managed to achieve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness more effectively than the Americans without even making this phrase a national icon. Admittedly, we owe the Americans a great deal for the ideological influences and economic prosperity they have provided us. Yet it appears that we in Canada have lived up more so to Jefferson's ideal than the Americans themselves.
This is a testament to the greatness of the Canadian people -- that moderation and unity can be combined with non-negotiable values to produce a peaceful and free society. And as one of the 21st century's major powers -- as I hope our country will choose to make itself -- we will be able to spread these values to all of humanity.
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Obama, the first Great Lakes President since the 20s, changed Canada's dynamics. Investment in universal gigabit connectivity to every community's "anchor institutions", universal free Wi-Fi around those, the starts of a high speed train network, and serious urban renewal, smart grids and serious commitment to post-fossil-fuel vehicles, have put the US on a track to recovery as Canada fails.
The edges Ontario had (low dollar, universal state-paid health care, good infrastructure) are now all reversing in favour of Ohio, Michigan, etc.. Ontario, as Jeremy Rifkin pointed out recently, is very fall behind on "smart grid" and electric vehicle technologies (including the powerline networking that is required to charge them), and committed to a failed strategy of subsidzing waste and nuclear reactor replacement. There is no future for Quebec, Maritimes or NL to tie themselves to this boat anchor, now a have-not province. There is extreme liability in the Tar Sands and its corrupt branch offices, the Harper government and the government of Alberta. First Nations have declared "war" on Enbridge but the "Canadian" (really Toronto) media continues to treat them as a viable investment or Northern Gateway as a viable insurable project. Criminals, clearly guilty of bribery, perjury and electoral frauds of all kinds, sit in the corridors of power and make "omnibus" bills into fake "laws" (passed by criminals who stole their offices).
I have been saying this for decades, that Jefferson would have preferred the Canadian model. However the US has a more mature constitutional framework that got many things very much more correct than Canada, including protection of free political speech as a right (Sullivan v. NY Times, 1964). Canada's laws in this respect are extremely primitive and open dissidents in all countries that use Canadian media (including online services) to SLAPP suits and fishing expeditions that can be a material threat to their lives and their families. The Charter has been toilet paper since 2006 when Harper removed the Charter Challenges support program which was offsetting the very onerous and abusive requirement to argue all common law defenses before arguing a Charter defense of free speech. Now defendants are on their own resources for this process which can cost tens of millions if the case reaches the Supreme Court of Canada, as *many* have lately.
Also, Canadians who habitually compare themselves only to Americans, never to Scandanavians (on fundamental freedoms and equity) or Koreans (on efficiency and technological innovation), or other highest-performing nations, can easily doom the country. Staying a few points higher on some quality of life scale than the US, as both fall on it steeply, is worthless.
Methinks Americans protest too much. And they're more than a little brainwashed.
I went for a swim by a beaver dam and high fived its occupants while whistling the tune to Hockey Night In Canada.
I bought some crazy glue so I can stick the red maple leaves back on the trees this fall.
I'm celebrating tonite with a keg of cheap molsens, fireworks and a red and white birthday cake I laced with canadian whiskey, citronella, old spice and bear spray or foo foo juice as I call it when the ladies enquire.
Yep, proud Canuck here.
I'm particularly fond of our s.1 clause, which makes it explicit that rights are not absolutely inviolable, and makes explicit the circumstances under which our Charter rights may be infringed. In the U.S., they have had to weasel around things by saying that, for example, certain kinds of expression aren't really speech and so aren't protected. In Canada we bite the bullet and say yes, we are in fact infringing your right to free speech, but we're doing it for good reason and as little as possible. I didn't always like s.1, but in studying the jurisprudence, I've come to appreciate it very much.
I think Canada day is really about not being American... So does that say about us?
Nationalism is a lie...
It's also worth noting that the "piece of paper" the US worships is hardly followed in this day and age. It is granted a strong position in their rhetoric but blatantly disregarded when laws are enacted and decisions are made.
That said, they certainly got it very, very wrong this time around.
As much as I dislike Harper, I'm ok with any government being in control, provided they respect what the people want, and value individual freedom over corporate freedom. Sadly, C-11 disrespected that.
On the other hand, we need go no further than this site to see a counterargument in the many videos that are unavailable in Canada. What's up with that?
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