Lucky to be Canadian

And Why I Think Hollywood Squares Money is the Way of the Future

Today is Canada Day and it should be noted, not only on this day, that I feel lucky to be Canadian. This is a prosperous (mostly), peaceful (mostly) country. We have fine British political and cultural traditions - including a monarchy, which I find super cool - and some quasi-French people to give us a certain je ne sais quoi. We have people from all over the world who become Canadian and add even more je ne sais quoi and cultural traditions to our mix. We have a good social safety net, abundant natural resources, decent cities and towns, beautiful landscapes and good neighbours. I think we forget the importance of that last one, as we are often so sanctimonious about the United States and what we feel is our moral superiority in comparison.

I always say the smartest thing Canada ever did was locate itself right next to a global power that shares our values and defends us, allowing us sit comfortably under their defence umbrella while they get most of the rain. We can freeload off of their military spending and boast about how kind we are. We can not keep up with what should be our NATO contributions and still be looked after and included at every turn. We can be a G7 member and sit at the big kids’ table, even though, for the life of me, I don’t see why we belong in the G7 more than, say, Australia, Spain, South Korea…the list continues. Both Australia and South Korea are more strategically located than we are for the current geopolitical situation. I have a thought that the G7 should remove us as a permanent member and have, in our place, a rotating membership: we would be one of the rotating countries, along with those listed above and maybe some others (Greece?). But those guys don’t listen to me.

There are negatives in Canada, of course. Like every other country in the West, we have fallen prey to woke nonsense and a deep unease with protecting things that we are going to miss once gone. I think that Americans still have a bit of fight, a bit of engagement in this area that we lack. That tendency to push back can make them a bit louder and crazier than might make us comfortable, but we could use a dash of that spirit. Since October 7th - and perhaps prior - our foreign policy has been an embarrassment, lacking in moral clarity in what is the clearest fight between good and evil that we have seen in some time. That there is any reluctance on the part of some of our politicians to stand with Israel and help weaken, if not fully destroy Hamas is a puzzle to me. We have also lost respect for our own history and our armed forces. We have dismantled and trivialized our military, despite our considerable contributions in World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan. And yes, our contributions in peace-keeping. (I know people naive enough to think that is all we should do - as though it can be parsed that way. “Sorry everyone else - you go get rid of the bad guys and we’ll pop in, blue hats on, later. And then we’ll tell everyone about our virtue. Sound fair?”)

Instead, we spend our time changing the names of streets and schools, taking down statues and trying to erase the very people - flaws and all - who created Canada in the first place. For the record, I am not against adding new people to our money or new areas of study to our school curriculums. What I am against is arbitrary contraction - taking away a person or a field because it has fallen out of favour with the chattering classes. For example, removing Sir John A. Macdonald from the ten dollar bill. Having Viola Desmond on the bill is terrific - but surely there is room for both of them?

[Old tyme Canadian flag - the Red Ensign. From Canadian Encyclopedia website.]

This is where my idea for Hollywood Squares money comes in: for Canada’s 150th anniversary, in 2017, a ten dollar bill with four faces on it was released. I thought it was innovative: there were two Fathers of Confederation (one English - Sir John A., one French - George-Etienne Cartier); Agnes Macphail, the first woman elected to parliament; and James Gladstone, or Akay-na-muka, Canada’s first Indigenous senator. This struck me as something to be praised. I am not being at all sarcastic - I mean it. I think we should have the occasional Hollywood Squares paper money issued. A Father of Confederation could be the centre square (i.e., Paul Lynde) and various members of diverse communities could take the places of Buddy Hackett, Karen Valentine, George Gobel, Rose Marie, Roddy McDowall, and so on.

(If you don’t get these references, enjoy your youth.)

One thing I have never been a proponent of is forced Canadian content - that is a bad use of power and policy. And we should really be above such desperation, shouldn’t we? That does not mean, though, that I am not a fan of Canadian culture, at least some of it. Exhibit A: an example of a truly glorious poem written by a Canadian Alden Nowlan’s This is What I Wanted to Sign off With.

Closing lines from it here:

Blame that on terror and pain
or the stuff they’re shooting
into my veins. This is what I wanted to
sign off with. Bend
closer, listen, I love you.

Is that not exceptionally beautiful? True story: years ago, I had a job-lette as an assistant to an elderly lady who was writing her memoirs. She had been a prominent figure in Canadian publishing and media since the 1940s and knew - or so it seemed - everyone. Among the many gifts she gave me was an autographed copy of an Alden Nowlan poetry collection. (The above poem is not in it.)

Happy Canada Day, all!