Oh Canada Day
Sunday, 1 July 2007 by Joscelynn TomawThis morning we learned that today is Canada Day, and this brought to mind what author Sarah Vowell had to say about Canadian Independence in her book The Partly Cloudy Patriot:
There’s a sad sack quality to the Canadian chronology I find entirely endearing. I once asked the CBC radio host Ian Brown how on earth one could teach Canadian schoolchildren their history in a way that could be remotely inspiring, and he answered, ‘It isn’t inspiring.’
Achieving its independence from Britain gradually and cordially, through polite meetings taking place in nice rooms, Canada took a path to sovereignty that is one of the most hilariously boring stories in the world. One Canadian history textbook I have describes it thus, “British North Americans moved through the 1850s and early sixties towards a modestly spectacular resolution of their various ambitions and problems.” Modestly spectacular. Isn’t that adorable?
So as we approach the anniversary of the day we proclaimed unequivocally to King George III “That these Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States,” Canada marks the 140th anniversary of “the beginning of a gradual march towards independence from Britain” that would last until 1982. Party on, Canucks, party on.
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July 3rd, 2007 at 10:23
Doesn’t that just seem like the Canadians? They’re just so … polite. Way too polite to have a crazy revolution.
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:01
Polite they are. The chapter where I found that quote is actually on Mounties v. Cowboys and Sarah goes on to talk about how there’s just no dark side to Canada. It’s a very funny read.