by Sectori
Important news that you probably have not heard about: Canada's Prime Minister has dissolved the government, in violation of his own law to prevent calling elections when politically expedient. As leader of the Conservative party, he has been complaining for some time that parliament was "deadlocked". While this is troubling, it's not the thing I find most concerning about this story.
What's more troubling to me is the complete lack of coverage of anything about Canada in US news. Canada and Mexico are our two closest neighbors, and yet, how many Americans can name, for example, the capital of Canada? For the record, it's Ottawa, not Toronto. How many Americans can tell you how many provinces and territories Canada has (10 and 3)? name their capitals (from East to West, South to North: St. John, Halifax, St. John's, Fredericton, Québec City, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Victoria, Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Whitehorse)? identify them on a map?
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What do Americans know about the history and politics of our esteemed, if stereotypically cold, Northern neighbors? Can they name the current Prime Minister (Stephen Harper)? Can they tell us the function of the Governor-General? Can they tell us what happened in October of 1970, or what, perchance, the Quiet Revolution could be?
How can we ignore our closest neighbors in this way? Canada has stuck with us through thick and thin. Canadian soldiers participated in the D-Day landings, and are now stationed in Afghanistan. I think, if they're going to be part of the "coalition of the willing", that we owe them a bit of recognition for their help.
And yet we do ignore them. We go about our daily lives, secure in the knowledge that Canadians are drinking beer, hunting beavers, loving hockey, just North of our homes. We ignore the long history of Canada, from the arrival of Leif Ericson to found Vinland to the French and Indian Wars (better known to our Canadian friends as the Intercolonial War). The only mention the Canadians receive in American history at all is a passing mention in the context of the Québec Act and the displeasure that it caused our founding fathers. What about the founding fathers of Canada?
Next time you find yourself with nothing to do, read about our neighbors to the North. They're a lot more interesting than you think.
Monday, September 8, 2008
O, Canada!
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6 comments:
I concur.
With the media focusing on what will get them ratings, American ignorance becomes self-perpetuating. If we actually had a news media that cared about the news instead of what some trivial celebrity is doing, Americans would actually know who Leif Ericson was and, more importantly, that thought, learning, peace, and the survival of our species are more important than their beloved materialism and trivial indulgences.
correction: ...celebrity is doing, as well as a decent education system, public interest in literature, and funding for the arts, humanities, and sciences,...
I'd be curious to see your source.
Source for what?
The snap-election laws? BBC: "Holding the election this year breaks Mr Harper's own fixed-date election law, something he had said was necessary to prevent prime ministers calling elections when polls indicated they were in a favourable position."
Source for other things?
That's it. Thanks Sectori.
Yes, Harper had actually been trying to get this vote called for a while - before he was baiting the opposition and hoping to get them to call the vote so that he didn't have to break his own law.
And to disciple: I don't want to pick a fight, but for God's sake what is so bad about "materialism and trivial indulgences"?
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