Let's jump in on the constitutional nation thing that seems to be going around.....
Quebcois - however you try and define that (good luck - does it include James Bay Cree or allophones?) is just peachy being a nation..give it to them.....
At the same time, give it to Metis, First Nations, and Inuit (basically already have it)...
Then Acadians.....Franco-Ontarians.......Newfoundanders (I think we all agree they are a DISTINCT society - think the
Nissan Bonavista), Albertans, Left Coasters, and people who live in the 416....then add hypenated Canadians....English-Canadians, Irish-Canadians...those who throw up the hyphen when self-describing.
Really, is there such a thing as the Canadian nation? Read the following that has flown around the webosphere:
Written by an Australian Dentist...
To Kill an American or a Canadian
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week,
but there was actually a report that someone in
Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a
reward to anyone who killed an American or Canadian,
any American or Canadian.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the
following day to let everyone know what an American or
Canadian is, so they would know when they found one.
(Good one, mate!!!! )
An American or Canadian is English, or French, or
Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or
Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican,
African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or
Afghan.
An American or Canadian may also be a Comanche,
Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole
or one of the many other tribes known as native
Americans or Canadians.
An American or Canadian is Christian, or he could be
Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are
more Muslims in America or Canada than in Afghanistan
. The only difference is that in America they are free
to worship as each of them chooses.
An American or Canadian is also free to believe in no
religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to
the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak
for the government and for God. An American or
Canadian lives in the most prosperous land in the history
of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in
the Declaration of Independence (or in Canada , the Bill
of Rights), which recognizes the God given right of each
person to the pursuit of happiness.
An American or Canadian is generous. Americans or
Canadians have helped out just about every other
nation in the world in their time of need, never
asking a thing in return. When Afghanistan was
over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans
and Canadians came with arms and supplies to enable
the people to win back their country! As of the
morning of September 11, Americans had given more than
any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan .
Americans and Canadians welcome the best of
everything, the best products, the best books, the
best music, the best food, the best services. But they
also welcome the least. The national symbol of
America , the Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired
and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming
shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact
are the people who built America . Some of them were
working in the Twin Towers the morning of September
11, 2001 earning a better life for their families.
It's been told that the World Trade Center victims
were from at least 30 different countries, cultures,
and first languages, including those that aided and
abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American or Canadian if you
must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin,
and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in
the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself.
Because Americans and Canadians are not a particular
people from a particular place. They are the embodiment
of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit,
everywhere, is an American or a Canadian.
Define a nation...someone.....it might be where I agree with Bob Rae (gasp!) and mayhaps Justin Trudeau (more gasps) it is juist a word....a word though that has seen its day, is out dated, and basically a sociological term like the word race has become.
Canada isn't a nation, doesn't need to be a nation, and is better without being one. Let the Quebecois be one....and be stuck with an outdated idea - makes ya wonder if separatist agenda will one day be viewed like the agenda and conterol of the RCC pre-Quiet Revolution?!? Hmm
