Gough Barry M. Historical Dictionary of Canada

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40 • INTRODUCTION

Despite cultural complexities and geographical peculiarities, there

remains, above all, a unifying idea of the Canadian experience. Na-

tional historians have been good at creating such a national ethos. Mark

Starowicz, CBC’s documentary head and the brains behind its award-

winning TV series Canada: a People’s History, put it this way in the

Globe and Mail of 20 September 2000: “We are the debris of history.

We are the children of the expelled, the persecuted, the abandoned and

the marginalized. We are the remnants of empires and the refugees of

lost causes. It’s not blood that unites us; it’s the experience of refuge.

That’s how we recognize each other in foreign places. We will tolerate

no supremacy of class or privilege, no jumping of the queue, no aristoc-

racy. Our children can pride themselves on the poverty of their parent’s

roots, not on their accumulated wealth. You cannot be rude to a waiter

in this country, because your son or daughter may be one someday. Our

streets are sparse in statues not because we have no history, but because

we honour no dictators, we had no great conquering armies, we did not

annihilate for religion or ideology. But the absence of such things is not

evidence of the absence of history. We had every ingredient in Canada

for the toxic stew that created Sarajevo: clashing religions, languages,

races and contested land. By some alchemy, we took these same ingre-

dients and became the kind of country that can’t even imagine Kosovo;

we mixed them into a complex, multipart quest for equilibrium. That is

Canadian history.”

But that is only half the story. Faced with a northern, often inhospi-

table land, Canadians over five centuries and by accumulated experi-

ence have shaped a unique North American existence, one different

from the republican zeal of the United States, though no less patriotic.

The resources of the northern waters, forests, and terrain have presented

abundance unique in the historical experience of modern nations.

Canada is well able to feed itself. It has abundant energy resources for

its own needs. It exports foodstuffs and energy. The institutions of gov-

ernment and of the state, which owe their origins to European history

and influence, have put in place (and nurtured) a civic society of the sort

that has allowed the Canadians as described above to find in Canada a

home or a safe place free from civil war, poverty, and revolution. This

is no small achievement on the world stage, and well worth both the

study of outsiders and the attention of those at home to preserve and,

indeed, to strengthen.

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INTRODUCTION • 41

If history is any indication, though admittedly some would argue that

indeed it is not, then we can make some postulations about future direc-

tions of Canada, its governments, and its peoples. History offers a good

guide to future developments, but it is aided in its didactic sense by

geographical facts. Geography and geographical position make Canada

undeniably central to the world’s progression and circumstances. What

follows are a few postulations and observations about future directions

of Canada and its peoples.

Canada is not an isolated country free from the world’s challenges

and crises. Historical forces swirl around Canada—like any nation,

the world external to it is a chaotic one, that is, beyond its immedi-

ate ability to dictate. As such, alliances are vital to Canada’s security

and future. No matter how greatly NATO, NORAD, and NAFTA

may be challenged, even threatened, Canada’s political leaders and

diplomats, acting on behalf of their government, will seek to uphold

and strengthen these relationships. Isolation is not an option. Tariff

and trade barriers do not work favorably for a trading power such as

Canada. Wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan have brought Canada back

to a harsh global reality and, with it, a sense of obligation to intervene

militarily. Canadians do not easily “go to war.” In fact, they strongly

resist the tendency. Canada will continue to cling to the ideals of the

UN, promote the causes of freedom and civil rights, individual liberties,

and freedom from internecine strife and tribal warfare in distant lands.

At the same time, we can be certain that Canada will never undertake

military missions unilaterally and, in the circumstances that lead it to

war, will always do so under UN or alliance arrangement. As for fis-

cal aid, Canada’s international aid obligations (as given by Ottawa and

leaving out nongovernmental organizations) will continue to be less

than 1 percent of the GNP.

Although the Province of Québec will continue under various rul-

ing political parties to seek for independence, sovereign status, or

some sort of sovereignty association, it will remain, out of necessity,

part of a greater Canada. Independence may be the last refuge of a

nationalist. Even so, in the circumstances, financial stability, economic

opportunity, free-trade zones, and sympathetic and accommodating

neighbors are part of any search for redefined status. The population

of the province is likely to decline proportionally to the rest of Canada,

thus giving less power to elected federal members of parliament vis à

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42 • INTRODUCTION

vis those from other provinces. The political makeup of voters tends

to send traditional Liberal or Conservative members to Ottawa from

Montréal—a total of 25 seats—and Bloc Québécois members from the

Rest of Québec (RoQ)—50 seats. The more things change, the more

they seem the same. In fact, scant change is anticipated on this score

for the foreseeable future.

The protection of French language is assured by law—in common

usage, in government and judicial practices, and in cultural effusions.

This will in no way be threatened from the outside, and the province

will continue to be the heartland of French Canadians, and Montréal its

heartbeat. The French language will become more and more the special-

ized language of business and education, but at the same time, English

will continue to be a necessary language of learning and usage for all

in that jurisdiction who seek national, continental, and international op-

portunity. By the same token, bilingualism will continue to be federal

policy and will continue as a strong force, though for an elite majority,

in the rest of Canada. In these circumstances, no Canadian can expect to

do well in any Canadian agency without bilingual capability. Although

the number of English-speaking persons in the province will continue

to increase, the bilingual fact will remain inviolate.

For the foreseeable future, too, Canada’s multicultural society will

continue strong and aided by state policies. Furthermore, immigration

policies will continue to support family reunification and safe refuge

for persons fleeing persecution and revolution. All the same, new citi-

zenship guidelines introduced in late 2009 call for greater knowledge

of Canadian institutions, traditions, and history—a welcome sign to

observers who have long thought these items were not attended to when

it comes to immigration policy and Canadian citizenship by adoption.

As far as immigration quotas are concerned, the federal government has

a long-standing policy to recruit 250,000 newcomers a year, a number

that will likely increase as the inflow proves insufficient to hold down

the median age. A vigorous immigration policy will be continued, re-

sponding to international needs as they arise but mindful of the costs

and burdens that immigrants place on the nation’s taxpayers and on its

provinces and cities.

Québec will continue to assert marginal autonomy on immigrants

resettled in the province. Ontario will continue, for the foreseeable

future, to receive the bulk of “new Canadians.” In the aftermath of To-

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INTRODUCTION • 43

ronto’s rapid population growth, and ethnic neighborhoods, Canadian

policy now targets Kitchener-Waterloo and Barrie, Ontario, as places

for immigrant placement. Vancouver, particularly south Vancouver and

the Fraser Valley, will continue to see the influx of Asians, principally

from China, Korea, and India. If past experience has anything to tell,

such immigrants will choose their own places of habitat and commu-

nity, and these will not be directed by laws or regulations but by choice.

In Vancouver, for instance, Chinese will live north of the Fraser River

and South Asians south of it. A greater number of Arabs, Iranians, and

Afghanis will populate the Canada of the future, following the pattern

of the dispossessed of Vietnam and Laos. Some Mexicans and some

refugees from Central and South America will come, but not in great

numbers and only when cause dictates. By the same token, the largest

number of immigrants will come to Canada from Europe, with southern

Europe and the Balkans being significant donors.

Within Canada, the economic center of gravity of the confederation

will continue to shift to the west, particularly to Alberta and British

Columbia, with a recently reviving Saskatchewan as the new place of

choice for economic development, investment, and jobs. Oil-rich Al-

berta is the driving force of all of Canada. Of that, there can be no mis-

take. Corporate Canada, which first shifted from Montréal to Toronto in

consequence of political instability in the Province of Québec, has also

shifted to Calgary and to a lesser extent Edmonton. The Alberta Oil (or

Tar) Sands hold known petroleum reserves in the world second only to

Saudi Arabia, and the exploitation of these resources, though expen-

sive, will continue, for the cardinal reason that the independence and

autonomy of North American economies demands such. U.S. President

Barack Obama’s national energy policy favors continental integration

in the oil and gas sectors; this impacts on Canada. Saskatchewan, with

the world’s greatest potash reserves, holds a special place in China’s

imports. British Columbia, the gateway-to-Asia province, the North-

west Passage in reality, will continue to be the transportation vector of

the Canadian economy, with Vancouver the most prominent western

port in all of the Americas. The new container port in Prince Rupert,

northern British Columbia, will only enhance British Columbia’s ca-

pabilities and wealth from trade. But, as of the present time, the forest

industry will continue to falter, because of slackening external demand

and, to a lesser degree, environmental difficulties, including pine beetle

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44 • INTRODUCTION

and other infestations. These have led to the closure of mills and the

impoverishment of communities. The forest products industry will con-

tinue to change toward artificial commodities.

Vancouver and Vancouver Island, particularly southern Vancouver

Island and Victoria, will continue, as they have for a century, to attract

retirees and also immigrants from Great Britain, Australia, elsewhere

in Canada, and South Africa. In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and

Labrador’s prospects are not bright as far as the fishing industry is

concerned, and sealing will continue to be a seasonal activity, despite

international protests and media coverage. Offshore oil will strengthen

the economy, as it will in similarly blessed Nova Scotia, but the popu-

lations there will not grow significantly, the local economies not being

buoyant or industrial enough to sustain large-scale growth. In addition,

the preference nowadays is for small families. Atlantic Provinces will

continue to be the most Caucasian of all the parts of Canada. The ab-

original populations will continue to be strongest in British Columbia

and the other western provinces, with native cultural revival strong

and assured, even if languages are, sadly, more threatened than ever.

Canadian constitutional measures and native assertion will allow the

continuance and enhancement of native cultural resilience and pride.

Of all the provinces of Canada, Ontario’s future is the most in doubt.

Without oil, with a fragile forest industry, with mining and mineral

resource extraction dependent on a fluctuating external market, with a

large population demanding full medical care and educational oppor-

tunities through the tertiary level, and with an industrial sector largely

tied to the North American automobile industry, it is for the first time

in need of assistance from other provinces on a cost-sharing basis. Its

status as a “have province,” so long proclaimed, is now at the turn-

around point, and it will be interesting to see how other provinces such

as Saskatchewan, so long a “have-not province” but no longer one, will

respond to Ontario’s demands.

The communications infrastructure of Canada will continue to be

of vital significance to the well-being of its cities, towns, provinces,

and peoples. Its two airlines that offer what can be called national or

nationwide services will continue to provide links among communities

and families. Its railways, now important players in U.S. transportation,

will continue to be links of empire and commerce. Its national radio

and television stations of the CBC will respond to demands to maintain

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INTRODUCTION • 45

the communications of a diverse society that needs the ties that bind

together in some sort of a cultural whole. In this regard, the use of satel-

lites, significant to Canada’s current communication system and bank-

ing and other financial practices, will be enhanced with future develop-

ments. The highway structures of the nation, so long neglected, will

need to be addressed for commercial reasons as well as those of secu-

rity, and as an alternative to the bulk transport of railways. Major strides

will be made in interprovincial highway construction in the decades

ahead, and provincial politicians are already making such advances

legislative realities. A national highways policy, so long delayed, so

long neglected, may well come into being. A truly fast, modern railway

linking Montréal with Windsor, also long overdue, may well come into

existence. In fact, human transportation by rail shows the greatest pos-

sibilities for revival, made more urgent by environmental issues.

Global warming will continue to frighten Canadians, will continue to

reduce the ice of the Northwest Passage, will continue to reduce polar

bear habitat, and will continue to make commercial surface navigation

of Canada’s arctic waters a likelihood, even a reality. Canada will con-

tinue to declare its authority in the Arctic but will unlikely bring about

measures to police such a waterway on grounds of cost and means of

policing the same. In addition, the Canadian north will continue to be

a sparsely occupied location for the human population—and largely

the homeland for the Inuit (eastern Arctic) and the Inuvialuit and Dene

(western Arctic). The exploitation of oil and natural reserves will

increase, despite political pressures to the contrary. A self-sufficient

North American economy will demand this. So will the demands for

fresh water in the United States.

Canada’s history began with that of the First Nations. Canada’s

future will continue to see First Nations as part of the Canadian popu-

lation. The demise of the Canadian Indian, though forecast in the year

1900, did not occur. Modern medicine reversed the decline of numbers.

Even though the populations are small, they are resilient. Even though

the lure of the city continues, so does that of the reserve. Indigenous

self-government will offer hope for the future, and leadership and com-

munity zeal and purpose will show some significant achievements in

the history of aboriginal survival. Of all Canadians, these are the most

marginalized and victimized, and nowhere else is there such a calling

for confirmed and dedicated leadership and collective wisdom. The

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46 • INTRODUCTION

solution to “the Indian problem” may well be found in indigenous mea-

sures of self-help, autonomy, and growth.

Above all, Canadians will continue to be self-conscious about their

achievements and possibilities. They will continue to believe that the

wider world knows little about them. They will even complain that they

are slighted or neglected. Perhaps the last of the great nation-states cre-

ated during the 19th

century, they may be the last to realize their own

prospects and to assert their own values. Self-effacement and modesty

will continue as national traits, no small consideration when you think

of it. But they will continue to champion hockey as their game, and

cheer for Canadian contestants in the Olympics (such as the 2010 Win-

ter Olympics held in Vancouver) and other global competitions.

Not least in importance, it is surely an oddity that one of the most

stable and long-standing democracies and federations on the world

stage should be faced with an ongoing instability at the top. The vola-

tility of Canadian national government was exhibited sharply in late

2008 when, facing votes of no confidence, the government of Stephen

Harper sought the prorogation of the parliament for a limited period

until a state of equanimity could be attained and his government had

time to formulate policies deemed to be acceptable to the opposition

(which had formed a three-party coalition threatening to unseat the

government). It speaks to compromise and good sense that the gover-

nor general, Michaëlle Jean, granted this interval; the coalition subse-

quently and quickly folded. The legislative agenda was continued. Even

so, the continuing existence of minority governments holding power in

Ottawa (first Paul Martin and, twice since, Stephen Harper) seem to

be a hallmark of Canadian national politics of the first decade of the

21st century. Among the explanations of this state of affairs are the

gradual rise of the Conservative Party of Canada to prominence from

various right-wing parties no longer in existence, the Reform Party,

and the Canadian Alliance; the general collapse of the Liberal Party

of Canada as the assumed or rightful governing party of Canada (in

keeping with leadership difficulties and changes); and the continuance

of strong, entrenched third and fourth parties (the NDP and the Bloc

Québécois). These explanations speak also to the inherent complexities

of the federation, the pulls and pushes of the regions of Canada and their

customary political affiliations, and the ethnic and racial peculiarities of

the nation-state.

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INTRODUCTION • 47

Against the political stability at the top are the steady and reliable

modes of government at the provincial and territorial levels. As the

constitutional reformer Lord Durham had wished, municipal govern-

ment could be the most important in a country such as Canada. If one

were to look at national voting patterns and listen with serious atten-

tion to the political pundits and the informed voting public, one would

think that Canada was in crisis, its future doomed. But the facts of the

case belie all this, and a salutary reminder needs to be given about the

strength and purposes of Canadians and the political systems that they

have put in place.

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– A –

ABORIGINAL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS. As of the date of

confederation (1867), two residential schools for aboriginal chil-

dren existed in Canada. In due course, schools were built in every

province and territory. Indian, Inuit, and Métis children attended

such institutions, sometimes under coercion of Department of Indian

Affairs (DIA) authorities and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

(RCMP). By 1931, there were 80 such schools, three-quarters of

which were in the four western provinces. The Roman Catholics

ran 44, the Anglican Church 21, United Church of Canada 13,

and Presbyterians 2. An estimated 100,000–125,000 native children

passed through the system, which was closed down in the mid-1980s.

Based on an education philosophy of “resocialization” and

preparation for enfranchisement, the scheme was essentially as-

similationist. It involved the teaching of English or French where

appropriate and indirectly involved the destruction or neglect of

aboriginal languages and cultures; similarly, it assumed the supplant-

ing of children’s aboriginal spirituality with Christianity. Reports

documented residential-school problems: in 1907 in 15 schools, 24

percent of children were found to have died while in the school’s

care. At Old Sun’s on the Blackfoot reserve, Alberta, the figure was

as high as 47 percent. Stark, physical abuse bordering on terror was

reputedly the system in effect, according to the report of the Royal

Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1997). Incidents documented

included whippings and other beatings, chaining and shackling, and

incarceration. The success of the schools was questioned as early as

1913. Concluding that the residential-school system was “an act of

profound cruelty” rooted in racism and intolerance, the commission

The Dictionary

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