1867, THE YEAR CANADA BEGAN
Today, March 29, 1877, marks our ten-year anniversary as a country. Ten years, which have brought us racial separation and a ruthless disregard for patriotism, instead of unity.
Ironically, in 1867 when the British government merged three of their colonies in North America to become one nation, they instead created the divided state of Canada.
The British North America Act (BNA) fused the colonies of the Province of Canada, the Province of New Brunswick, and the Province of Nova Scotia only so that we might endure great hardships because of our differences.(1)
Unfortunately, Britain defined the structure of our government and wrote the majority of our constitution with the BNA(pictured right is the government of Canada after the BNA was passed).The only benefit for Canada was that a slight amount of power transferred to our own government instead of allowing Britain to control every aspect of the country. The BNA allowed Provincial legislature the power to make their own laws in subject categories concerning solely their own people.(2) However, because we were defined by another country we never had the oppurtunity to write our own constitution and bond as a country.
When Britain chose to combine colonies they did not take into account our cultural differences. Instead they brought us together solely so that they could reap the economic benefits of our trade without having to spend their own money controlling it.
Because our country was brought together by force, a strong divide arose between the French-speaking Quebec (the areas were renamed to Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia after the BNA was passed) and the rest of us, English-speaking Canada. We did not choose to join together and so had no desire to unify. A country cannot have strong nationalism without that desire.
An additional separation factor between us and Quebec(pictured left) is our geographical disconnect, that only exacerbates the cultural divide. While the vast majority of the our English Canadian provinces are shown on the left of the map; Quebec remains disconnected from us on the far right.
One of the major examples that the BNA creating a void in nationalism is evident in the fact that Quebecois threatened to secede and create their own country.(3) Because our culture was mixed with that of Quebec and forced into one country we have a lack of national identity. As a country we are unable to unify because our different cultures support different values and worldviews.
As one of our political leaders Henri Bourassa claimed shortly after the BNA was passed, “So long as we have no Canadian patriotism, there will be no Canadian nation.”(4) Our country is torn into two pieces because we do not have one common trait that makes us all Canadian. We have nothing that connects us to the Quebecois except that we now all live in one country.
I do not harbor any ill will against French Canada, but I know that the lives of Quebecois do not possess the same traditions and routines as
mine. As Canadian statesmen Alfred Milner(pictured right) declared "My patriotism knows no geographical but only racial limits."(5) This outlines the problem that the majority of Canada still views themselves as English rather than Canadian. They are still loyal to England as Canadians while Quebecois fundamentally view themselves as a different race.
We did not choose to come together with French Canada, but until we have a desire to be one nation we will remain separated. We were given no choice, but our future holds nothing but dispute and turmoil if we cannot find our commonalities and form one true country.
Footnotes
1. Wikipedia Contributors, Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia (2005). Available from: wikipedia.org <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act%2C_1867> (accessed 2 December 2005)
2. “Arthur Meighen High School’s Canadian History Tour”. Available from: plpsd.mb.ca <http://www.plpsd.mb.ca/amhs/history/bna.html> (accessed 2 December 2005)
3. Lansing Lamount, Breakup: the coming end of Canada and the stakes for America (New York: Norton & Company, 1994)
4. Ibid
5. Niall Ferguson, Empire: the rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power (London: Allen Lane, 2002)
Images
1. Government of Canada, "Canada in the making: constitutional history" Available from: <http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution/constitution13_e.html>(accessed 9 December 2005)
2. Canadian Map, "Canada info: Provinces and Territories" Available from:<http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/provinces&territories/provinces&territories.html>(accessed 6 December 2005)
3. "Alfred Milner" Available from: <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRmilner.htm>(accessed 6 December 2005)