Happy Canada Day From the True North Strong and Free…

“The North” has always played a central role in how Canadians have chosen to define themselves. We are a “northern country”, we are a “northern people”, and today, as millions of Canadians sing the words “true north strong and free” as part of Canada Day celebrations, that definition will be reinforced once again.

But what makes us a northern nation?

Is it the fact that Canada is the geographic land mass that extends further North than any other geographic land mass in North America?

Dennis Bevington, an MP from the Western Arctic, put forward a motion in 2006 to change the Canadian motto of “From Sea to Sea” to “From Sea to Sea to Sea” to recognize that Canada is bound by the Arctic Ocean as well as the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Is that what makes Canada a northern nation?

With climate change resulting in an increasingly ice free Northwest Passage Arctic sovereignty is high on our national agenda. As Canadians ‘we all know’ that the Northwest Passage is “ours”, look at the map, how could anyone dispute that?

But is that what “the North” is?

Is it simply a geographic land mass in which a now romanticized fur trade history took place that comprises 40% of another geographic land mass that is bound to the North by the Arctic Ocean and that contains a convenient short cut between Europe and Asia?

That doesn’t seem like much to form a significant part of a national identity around.

I would suggest to you that what makes Canada a northern nation is in very large part the Canadian Inuit who live there, the people who have lived there for thousands of years before Europeans arrived, and the people who are proud to call themselves Canadian today.

Were you to visit any community in the Arctic on Canada Day you would find the same thing. From the Inuvialuit region in the west to Nunatsiavut in the east, Canadian Inuit are holding Canada Day parades, gathering at various Canada Day community celebrations, and proudly singing the same national anthem that southern Canadians are singing. And truth be known, when we sing the words “The true north strong and free”, we do so with a special pride, because we are singing about our home.

Happy Canada Day to one and all !

Technorati Tags: Inuit Canada Day