Canadian identity, many Canadians, from high school students to prime ministers have tried to find the meaning of those two words. What is this Canadian identity, what makes it so much harder to define that of other countries? Many Canadians have dedicated lifetimes of work trying to find the one special thing that makes Canadians Canadian. But, perhaps there is no just one thing that makes up the whole of Canadian identity. The many different variables that make up the country of Canada make it very difficult to define the true Canadian identity. In a way to define what it is that truly makes up the Canadian identity is to say that one must envelop what their country stands for while at the same time finding meaning in what is not Canadian.
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The first step towards defining the Canadian identity is to take a barebones look at Canada itself. When Canada is mentioned there are certain things that come to mind. Land, Canada holds the title of the second largest country in the world. Canada’s vast, wild, and beautiful landscapes are definitely a symbol of the country. The land can help define Canadian identity in two ways. The first of which is the Canadian people’s reverence for the land. Canada boasts a total of 43 national parks covering more than 377,000 km2 of land. This gives Canadians a reason to be proud of their country, and a reason to maintain and respect their environment. The vastness of Canada and distance between its major cities ironically brings the country 's people closer together. To be able to travel just under 4000 km from Vancouver to Montreal and still be able to say “ Yes, those people are as Canadian as I am!” is something unique and hard to find in other countries. To say that a country’s identity is defined by its people’s love and respect for the land, while still having a bond of togetherness with their fellow countrymen is not anything unique. There must be something that brought all these people together in the first place, and what in the world could it be? Luckily for Canadians that is very easy to answer. Canadians are indeed very lucky to have the Charter of Rights and …show more content…
Today, the world is in an age of information. This huge influx of information is a very critical component of the amount of progress being made in the world. The problem with having such a large amount of information, whether it be films, tv, and magazines, is that it is potentially diluting what makes up Canada’s identity. Perhaps, in a way having a diluted identity is better for Canada’s citizens. By allowing itself to be diluted by all of this information Canada is saying that it accepting and open to new people, new ideas, and new cultures. A country that is the complete opposite of Canada’s openness is North Korea. While Canada is still struggling with figuring out what it is, North Korea has already fully developed its identity. In North Korea they have put up walls and cut off the flow of information into their country. The government there has worked very hard to ensure that its people know who they are, and where they stand compared to the rest of the world. The problem that North Korea has encountered by cuttings itself off from the world is that it fell behind in progress, both technological and social. While North Korea is a brutal pit of social inequality, Canada has become a haven for social justice. Canada’s willingness to open its doors to the outside world has created the foundation for its citizens to create and shape their identity. Accepting that Canada might not have
The first step towards defining the Canadian identity is to take a barebones look at Canada itself. When Canada is mentioned there are certain things that come to mind. Land, Canada holds the title of the second largest country in the world. Canada’s vast, wild, and beautiful landscapes are definitely a symbol of the country. The land can help define Canadian identity in two ways. The first of which is the Canadian people’s reverence for the land. Canada boasts a total of 43 national parks covering more than 377,000 km2 of land. This gives Canadians a reason to be proud of their country, and a reason to maintain and respect their environment. The vastness of Canada and distance between its major cities ironically brings the country 's people closer together. To be able to travel just under 4000 km from Vancouver to Montreal and still be able to say “ Yes, those people are as Canadian as I am!” is something unique and hard to find in other countries. To say that a country’s identity is defined by its people’s love and respect for the land, while still having a bond of togetherness with their fellow countrymen is not anything unique. There must be something that brought all these people together in the first place, and what in the world could it be? Luckily for Canadians that is very easy to answer. Canadians are indeed very lucky to have the Charter of Rights and …show more content…
Today, the world is in an age of information. This huge influx of information is a very critical component of the amount of progress being made in the world. The problem with having such a large amount of information, whether it be films, tv, and magazines, is that it is potentially diluting what makes up Canada’s identity. Perhaps, in a way having a diluted identity is better for Canada’s citizens. By allowing itself to be diluted by all of this information Canada is saying that it accepting and open to new people, new ideas, and new cultures. A country that is the complete opposite of Canada’s openness is North Korea. While Canada is still struggling with figuring out what it is, North Korea has already fully developed its identity. In North Korea they have put up walls and cut off the flow of information into their country. The government there has worked very hard to ensure that its people know who they are, and where they stand compared to the rest of the world. The problem that North Korea has encountered by cuttings itself off from the world is that it fell behind in progress, both technological and social. While North Korea is a brutal pit of social inequality, Canada has become a haven for social justice. Canada’s willingness to open its doors to the outside world has created the foundation for its citizens to create and shape their identity. Accepting that Canada might not have