Features of Canadian National Identity - Coursework Example

Canadian national identity Canadian national identity appreciates ethnic, religious and political diversity. Canadian national identity is characterized by a unique language accent, typical behaviors of politeness and cheerfulness. Hockey is an important aspect of national identity while the national symbols like currency, anthems and patriotic songs strengthen the national shared values and beliefs. This paper will discuss the Canadian national identity. Canadian national identity Introduction Canada is a beautiful country and holding the Canadian national identity makes an individual privileged in many ways. However, the diversity in communities and cultures in Canada has become popular. According to public opinion polls, Canadians are proud of their diversity since it reflects the admirable qualities of caring, accepting, and tolerance. Canadians have developed a fairly intense complex about their national identity. Most Canadians share universal conceptions. The Canadian media has identified that 85 percent of Canadians identified their nation with typical behaviors and a typical accent language (Diakiw, 2011). There are numerous historical events that have shaped the current Canadian national identity. Some of the events include the participation of women in World War I, the creation of social welfare services and implementation of the third party system. Canadian political system has led to collective bargaining and equal rights for all workers (Diakiw, 2011). Immigration restrictions especially Asian immigrants and treatment of minority groups during the 20th century including residential schools, aboriginal issues and treaties led to emergency of shared values of tolerance and acceptance of diversity (Berdun & Montserrat, 2007). The Official Languages Act and Canadian role in international peacekeeping led to emergency of a culture of tolerance and caring attitudes among the nationals (Berdun & Montserrat, 2007). Canadians are proud of the cultural image. Canadian government has facilitated the strengthening of national identity and heritage. A unified and tolerant Canadian national ideology inspires many Canadian nationals. Canadian government has promoted cultural diversity and heritage through limiting the effect of foreign influence such an American influence. The official symbols such as the Flag of Canada was modified in order to align it with Canadian culture. Prominent symbols such as the loon, Canada goose, beaver and Canadian horse are some of the symbols that Canadian national identity with in the society (MacKey, 1999). The government has also changed the names of the military formations since the Air Command will be renamed Royal Canadian Air force in order to reflect the military heritage and identity of Canada (Berdun & Montserrat, 2007). Canadians are proud of their anthems and patriotic songs that glorify the Canadian heritage and identity such as the ‘O Canada’ national anthem and ‘God save the Queen’ patriotic song (York & Lam, 2010). The Great Seal of Canada is used in all official government documents and Royal Arms of Canada symbolize the national identity and are used in official seals, proclamations, rank badges in the Canadian Armed forces, currency and passports in order to reflect the national identity of Canada (Diakiw, 2011). Canadians refer to the natural environment as to an important part of their national identity. Government institutions and corporations incorporate nature in their advertisements and adhere with the environmental policy. Royal Canadian Mint released a coin in celebration of Boreal forest in Canada (MacKey, 1999). Canadians always refer to the untouched northern landscape and dangerous terrain that distinguishes Canadian geography. The founding of Parks Canada demonstrates how nature is important in Canadian national identity. Corporations like Group of Sevens use the national symbols such as currency in order to project Canadian values and ideas in the advertisement (Diakiw, 2011). The national currency is a universal form of public symbol and imagery that instills a sense of collective national identity among the nationals and forms an important element of the country culture (Cameron, 1999). Some corporations such as Molson Company, Roots Canada and Hudson’s Bay Company have developed products that depict the Canadian national identity. Canadian nationalism has moved from mere consumption to brand-oriented thus companies like Roots Canada use symbols such as canoes and beavers to display the proud Canadian image to the rest of the world (MacKey, 1999). Canadian national identity comprises of shared language, cultural diversity, shared norms, beliefs and attitudes of Canadian nationals. Canadian national identity has been shaped by the people backgrounds, their language and beliefs. Canadian national identity is expressed in music, art and literature. The national identity is witnessed in the stories the people tale, the books read, the films watched and accent of the language (Cameron, 1999). A sense of humor is considered an integral part of Canadian national identity since there are several Canadian comedies that are played in television and radio series. Political and cultural satires and self-deprecation are some characteristics of Canadian nationals. Canadians attend festivals like the Just for Laughs Museum and Comedy network that is devoted to entertaining Canadians through regular comedy festivals (Cameron, 1999). Canadian national identity is witnessed in famous sports. Canadian most preferred sport is ice hockey which is a common winter sport. In addition, Canadians play Canadian football, lacrosse and baseball. Ice hockey is a national winter sport while Lacrosse has rich indigenous origin (Angus, 1997). Canadian national identity embraces equality as exemplified in labor statistics. Women and men have equal opportunities in the participation in the labor market and politics. The gender relations in Canadian society are equal since women have the opportunity to serve in high government offices, own and dispose property at will (MacKey, 1999). Marriages are entered in to through the free will of the two parties and common-law unions have the same rights and privileges as the official marriages. Both parties to a marriage have equal rights to ownership of property, and joint responsibility for the support and care of the children (York & Lam, 2010). Canadian nationals also pride themselves with the social welfare programs. Although Canada is a capitalist welfare state, the welfare programs are funded by taxes and aim at protecting the impoverished in the society. The programs aim at alleviating poverty and supporting the unemployment (York & Lam, 2010). Social welfare programs have led to emergency of caring values and beliefs among the Canadian nationals. Social stratification is not common in Canada since leisure activities and dressing is uniform across Canadian nationals (York & Lam, 2010). According to a research study carried out in 1995, 74 percent of the Canadian nationals agreed that Canadians have a distinct character and the most distinguishing factor was the tendency of the nationals towards non-violence. The same research concluded that the social welfare policies make Canada distinct and Canadians pride themselves for the prevailing political system. Canada was rated at position three out of 23 countries that were polled on the national pride of the nationals (York & Lam, 2010). Interestingly, Canadian nationals asserted that they were proud of their military, sports, culture and economy. Bilingualism, religious and political pluralism are some of the aspects of Canadian national identity that make the citizens proud of their country (York & Lam, 2010). Canadians pride themselves with their current political government. Canada consists of ten provinces with each territory having some autonomy and sovereignty on the internal affairs. The political control is determined by the political party that garners majority of the representative seat and not basically the popular vote of the political party. The political system allows all Canadian nationals to have equal representative opportunities in the national and territory governments thus leading to tolerance of ethnic diversity and political affiliations. Canadian nationals are happy people and prefer a firm handshake and direct eye contact when interacting with other people (York & Lam, 2010). Canadians are generally welcoming and refer to others using their first name. Some Canadians also greet each other using a light kiss on the cheeks and prefer giving gifts during life events such as wedding anniversaries, birthdays and Christmas occasions. Canadians prefer politeness and table manners are informal and relaxed (Igartua, 2011). Canadian nationals share the same values. Canadians are considered nicer and caring. Canadian human rights have strengthened Canadian national identity and unified a vision of civility. Fairness to all nationals is an aspiration of all Canadians as they consider themselves to have a patriotic duty of being kind to each other. Canadians are against the idea of unequal treatment of people due to their ethnic background, religion or language. Canadians have rejected ethnic nationalism and are of the idea that all citizens should be granted equal opportunities to succeed based on merit (Igartua, 2011). Canadians are proud of their multiculturalism. The state of the inter-ethnic relations in Canada is tolerant and relaxed since Canadians have allowed linguistic and ethnic differences to exist. Metropolitan areas such as Vancouver and Canada have a strong sense of multiculturalism since the Canadian nationals are willing to support religious and ethnic diversity (Collins, 1990). Canada nationals are diverse in terms of ethnic background origin since the population consists of Asian immigrants, Black immigrants, British immigrants and French immigrants (Igartua, 2011). Native Canadians accounts for only 32 percent of the population while Canadians of English origin account for 21 percent of the population. French origin Canadians account for 15 percent of the total population. Other Canadians are from German, Ireland, Italy, and several other countries. The composition of Canadian population reflects the diversity in ethnic origin, language and religion. Canadians also pride themselves in their dress code. Canadians prefer plaid jackets which are common with hunters or people living in the remote regions (Samuels, 1997). Canadians in cold places are concerned with staying warm and alive thus wear scarves, ear muffs and various jackets that are made with wool or leather. However, the Canadians do not have a national dress code, but the mode of dressing is common among the diverse Canadian population since their dress code is aimed at staying cool and ensuring comfort (Grace & Glaap, 2003). Another aspect that defines the national identity of Canada is music. Canadian music reflects the diversity of the country such as French influences, British influences and Aboriginals influences thus culminating to a musical heritage of Canada (Grace & Glaap, 2003). Canada has a well-developed music industry and infrastructure that includes chamber halls, church halls, academies, performing arts centers and recording companies (Collins, 1990). The diversity of Canadian population is also evidenced in the music industry since music of the Maritimes, Canadian fiddle music and Inuit music. Inuit music is based on drums and complex rhythms. On the other hand, Music of the Maritimes involves heavy metal acts and traditional genres and is associated with the arrival of African immigrants. In addition, Canadian fiddle music entails musicians engaging in ancient folk music on the fiddle. It is an extension of Anglo-Celtic and French folk music but include additional unique features. Canada has a distinct art as part of national identity. Canadian art stems back from First Nations Peoples followed by European immigrations (Collins, 1990). The Federal Museum Act of 1990 ensures the preservation and promotion of Canadian heritage and promotes Canadian art worldwide (York & Lam, 2010). Canadian media identified that 85 percent of Canadian nationals asserted that being Canadian is associated with typical behaviors or typical assent in language. The official languages in Canada are English and French (Samuels, 1997). However, Canadian English combines both elements of American English and British English in the vocabulary (Collins, 1990). There are some vowels that are similar to dialects of Scotland. Canadian language can easily be recognized since it differs from the British English and American English accent (Grace & Glaap, 2003). Canadians emphasize the vowel sounds than Americans and introduce slangs in their conversations such as ‘eh’ which is similar with ‘right’ in American English (Grace & Glaap, 2003). In addition, Canadian language accent is more cheerful, polite and courteous which makes Canadians approachable even in times of disagreements. Conclusion Canadian national identity can be termed as a modern nationalism that is liberal and tolerant of the religious, ethnic, lingual and political diversity in Canada. Canadians share the same beliefs and values of caring, multi-cultural acceptance and unique accent. Canadians associated with national symbols such as the coat of arms, beaver symbols, Canadian seal and currency. Canadians have unique language accent and are polite and courteous in their conversations. In addition, Canadians pride themselves in the current political government structures and social welfare programs that are associated with caring virtue. Canadians are united and tolerate political, religious and ethnic differences. References: Angus, I.H. (1997). A border within: national identity, cultural plurality, and wilderness. Montreal: McGill Queen’s University Press. Berdun, G & Montserrat, M. (2007). The identity of nations. Cambridge: Polity. Cameron, K. (1999). National identity. London: Intellect Books. Collins, R. (1990). Culture, communication, and national identity: the case of Canadian television. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Diakiw, J. (2011). Canadian culture and national identity: the school’s role in debating and discussing the roots of our national identity. London: Verlag. Grace, S & Glaap, A. (2003). Performing national identities: international perspectives on contemporary Canadian theatre. Toronto: Talonbooks. Igartua, J.E. (2011). The other quiet revolution: national identities in English Canada. Toronto: UBC Press. MacKey, E. (1999). The house of difference: cultural politics and national identity in Canada. London: Routledge. Samuels, R. (1997). National identity in Canada and cosmopolitan community. Toronto: Agora Cosmopolitan. York, V & Lam, A. (2010). Being Canadian national identity: being Canadian regional difference. Toronto: Scholastic. Read More