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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-06-16, Page 4PAGE 4—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1977 Damn it, I'm Canadian By Al LeBlanc Co-ordinator, Media Resource Centre, x Sault Ste. Marie Separate School Board. With the recent provincial election in Quebec which saw the Parti Quebecois come into power, a lot of comments have come my way asking how I viewed the situation. Initially comments such as, "When are you going to change your name from LeBlanc to White?", "Are you going to claim dual citizenship when Quebec separates?" or, "Have you applied for your Quebec passport yet?" were slightly amusing and very witty, but it made me stop and think about just who I was and where I fitted in the make-up of a nation called Canada. I find that I have some potentially dif- _ ficult things to consider as my make up is part "French", part "Irish" and the rest comes from who -knows -where, Therefore, I decided},y,and quite some time ago by the way, that if I was to be labelled something it had to be a "Canadian" and nothing, else or nothing less. Right away I can hear comments that there is no such animal as a "Canadian." But there is and there are millions of them. About 22 millions and still growing. The problem of lack of recognition for such a phenomenon is and has been for a long time the failure of our institutions and people in general to recognize that in this land there are numerous intertwined threads which bind us together as a group to be labelled Canadians. These threads have come from all parts of the world at varying times and in varying degrees. However, once they ha arrived in Canada they have not made a real efforts to become "Canadia although the physical environment alo should have been enough to encoura them to do so. The problem with the above is that wh first came over is certainly not what o would find if he were to go back today, of a couple of hundred years, to the point origin. England is, no longer the power she on was, yet people in Canada still cling to t "British way" with a, colonial attitude -qui prevalent. France is also radically different tod as a result of the French Revolution and -subsequent history. It must be reme bered that the "French" in Canada are rooted back into the days prior to the French Revolution and that the revolution itself changed little in "French Canada although it had a profound effect back in ranee. I'm not advocating the American idea of a melting pot, where" after a period of time we all end up in a giant soup, but rather I like the concept of the "Canadian mosaic", I am not asking people to deny their soils o cultural background; simply I am askin that you preserve'them in such a way tha they will support and encourage a distin- ctive sense of being as a Canadian first who happens to have a variety of origins for his make up. I feel I have been able to do that without denying my background and I feel all the better for it, because in all honesty I cannot see how I could be labelled anything but "Canadian", What is a "Canadian", you ask? A Canadian is someone who appreciates and respects the unique qualities which, when put together, give a group of people a sense of identity with a physical landmass labelled Canada. ' Some of these qualities are 10 individual provinces and two territories with unique regional flavors of their own. Two founding cultures, not countries, with two distinct languages. It also has a unique system of governments which have evolved as much as a result of the physical configuration of the country as they have for its political make up. It has its maple leaf flag, its hockey, its maritime music, and music from each region across the land. It has long un- defended borders, its unique wildlife and vegetation. It has its Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton, Margaret Atwood, F.R. Scott, Ken Danby and Yosuf Karsh, It has the CBC, English - French, it's CFL, CPR, CNR and a military establishment which has played a unique and distinctive role in world ,wars and lately for the United Nations, It has Mel Hurtig, Stompin' Tom Con- nors, Cardinal Leger, Gordon Sinclair, Peter Newman, Marg Osborne, Moe Kauffman, Gordon Lightfoot, Oscar Peterson, the National Ballet, Canadian Opera Company, the Stratford Festival and the Calgary Stampede and on and on. Look at the political history of Canada. The Bennetts, the Lauriers, the MacDonalds, the Duplessis, the Smallwoods, the St. Laurents, the Diefenbakers, the Pearsons and yes, even the Trudeaus and Levesques. All of the above and much much more are all part of that intangible quantity called a "Canadian". You can no more prove what a "'Canadian" is than you would an "American" or an "Italian". A "Canadian"is a sense of mind which lends an air of identity to the individual. This identity comes from input and reference points which have evolved in his lifetime as a result of his physical en- vironment and contacts with institutions which designate his standards of education and living as well as his cultural make up from his own family background, Put together these factors shape him into a unique individual first and secondly a unique "Canadian". Both our institutions and we as in- dividuals have failed to recognize and ve acknowledge the existence of the ny "Canadian". This lack of self -recognition n„ has been probably the greatest single ne factor which has contributed to dishar- ge mony within our nation. The individual has clung tenaciously to the roots of day's long at gone and irrelevant in today's Canada. lie These roots are valuable for study and ter understanding of who we were, but they of should not be the prime mover telling us what we are today. They should help us ce decide what we are and what we would like he to be. te Our institutions have failed miserably in giving us a sense of identity as a Canadian ay people. Witness the flag debate, the "me - it first" attitude of individual communities, m_ regions and even provinces. Doesn't anyone think of Canada first? Even our federal ,politics are regiom or • province - oriented in nature most of the time. Our educational institutions from the lowest to the highest levels have failed miserably in teaching "Canadian Studies". Teaching things like who are we, and where we come from, and what makes us so unique, Maybe part of the reasons for education being so lax is a result of other r sectors of our society not recognizing g themselves as Canadians first. But the .. t educators are often the writers of our history and they have approached their task in this area quite often with blinders on! I am to the point of nausea hearing people proclaim that they are "French- Canadian", "English-Canadian",,"Polish- Canadian", "Italian -Canadian" and so on. " If you must use hyphenated labels and identity then put Canada first! I would much perfer to hear soneone proclaim that he is "Canadian -French", "Canadian - English", "Canadian -Polish and "Canadian -Italian", or better still, why in hell don't, they just say they are "Canadian" and take it from there? People from Canada have been looked at as being great fence -sitters and com- promisers and maybe the use of hyphens is undeniable due to a sense of insecurity, but I really don't believe this is the way it must be. It is time,"to stand on guard fonthee, 0 Canada". I will stand for Canada first and be counted as such, and I am, and always will be, proud to say, "Damn it, I'rn Canadian and proud of it". (Editor's Note: Al LeBlanc is the son of Mrs. Marie LeBlanc, West St., and the late` Percy LeBlanc.) fC IA the esobtrich SIGNAL—STAR -0— The County Town Newspaper of Huron _ Founded in purand published eery Thum* at (.,,derieh, Ilnlarin, ' ,'mb,•, nl w,. CW NA and OWNA• Advertising rates on request, Subscriptions payable In ad. am . t t:.s, in Canada. 115.50 to U.S.A., 120,00 to all other countries, single copies 25 cent. Ili. pL„ advertising rates, available on request. please ask for !tate ('ard No. 7 rffrctivr 1976. Second class mail Registration Number n710, Advertisink is averptrd nn the dition that, in the event of. typographical error, the advertising spare'ocvupted b. the? ° erroneous item. together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but the' balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable ratr.,tn the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at' a wrong prier, goods or service may not be sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time, The Signal -Star H not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited Manuscripts or. photos. gusinest and Editorial Office . TELEPHONE $14-e331 • ,, area cede 319 Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT G. SHRIER=-- president and: publisher SHIRLEY .1 KELLER.,-- editor EDWARD J. BYRSKi --- advertlslhg,niiina ger Maillr Addr l $s t Teamwork BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER Another election campaign is history in Ontario and a joke of one radio disc jockey just about summed it all up. The disc jockey played a record Friday morning which; he said was dedicated to Bill Davis, in recognition of his party's success ht the polls, The name of the tune? "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights'". About all that was really accomplished by the election was to show the politicians at Queen's Park that the voters said exactly what they meant - last time out at the polls: that minority government is best for Ontario at this particular time. by Jeff Sedd DEAR READERS But things will be different just the same. The Liberal Party is once again the of- ficial opposition in Ontario with the party's new leader, Dr, Stuart Smith. Almost everyone - including staunch Liberals - were surprised by Dr. Smith's strength as a leader, shown during the last few days of the campaign. Smith seemed to get into the swing of things as the cam- paign rolled along, and he became more aggressive and more decisive with every public appearance. During the last week of the campaign, I watched a television show on which Smith was the featured candidate, I was certainly impressed with his approach Long overdue Dear Editor: The caption headlining the report on the meeting of council on Monday, June 6, 1977, was indeed attention - getting, but could not by any ' stretch of the imagination, be called a good piece of jour- nalism by those ratepayers who are aware of what transpires during and after council meetings. Rather, the reporter's concept of the proceedings is obviously completely biased. Councillor Wheeler's course of action in proposing a motion to censure Coun- to the issues as well as his wit was a kind of Now.Ui when answering questions thing for Stephen l, 1v.hlch,_, .w,.,er, a .arlatlZra lea;�}�eq _the, result,t, trived to trip up the good tallied last Thursda, e, doctor. With another sessipjt, was obvious he at Queen's Park, a little mire obliged to step dopi i. time as leader, perhaps some There are still more support from his own course, that Pte party members plus a Davis will step gradual swing -away from .the" Progressive Col Progressive Conservative leader. ButthisreAi domination in Ontario, Smith seen. It is ve should be an interesting though, the PC s personality to watch. dwindling provincj And the New Democratic much of it may b" Party will not have Stephen due to the type of Lewis as its leader for much Davis has demo longer. Although Lewis is a the last year or two,; dynamic speaker, an in- telligent man and a strong leader, the NDP has failed to make the gains it had hoped for in the recent election. It DEAR EDITOR cillor Haydon was long overdue and it is gratifying ti know that, after due deliberation, the "six male councillors present" had the intestinal fortitude to support the motion. Regrettably, the other!female member of council chose not to do so. Having studied the council minutes over the years and noting incidents pf., unac- ceptable behaviour on the part of Councilloxw,i;Iaydon, 'Mr. Wheeler apparently felt it was time that .._a_ motion of censure should be documented. In the past, the censuring has been done in special meetings called at the expense of the ratepayers but the 'minutes of such special meetings have not been recorded. I believe that Councillor Wheeler is an efficient, high - principled person who would never, by deliberate in- tention, hurt any individual, nor would he cause• any disruptions without first having all the facts at his finger-tips; rather, 'his hope would be to correct an Im- proper situation. The responsibility of coundillors to ensure that all corporate affairs should be enacted in council meetings, thu's eliminating the "back room boys", may elicit undue • peer pressure as this. is a procedure' to which they are not accustomed. As intimated, Mr. Wheeler might indeed be "new",to this particular situation but his knowledge of parliamentary procedure and' proper protocol could be a definite asset if the council as a.whole would be willing , to take advantage of it.. ,. We: can only hope that our town 'council meetings in the future will be conducted with the proper amount of dignity, eliminating the pettiness which has prebailed of late. The council is a body elected to serve the ratepayers and each member should strive to +++ fn Huron-Middl' Tum! dispel personal and attend to the before council, The Municipal Handbook is 9 strument to have,a when taken out, can be a dangeroal;, In the words oftht, bard, "A goodaPPL the heart, oh, wl�e outside falsehoOd" Youis. B.A;" Hurray for Dear Editor, 1 was quite aPPaf behavior of then Ui ul di , fea ink Ki Irl y ren dol n ove ve P ele set red, min s( e v n fir ader rats e ala our at is darir to Can two] s w Silts vitt' i d -M Prof of MF and iafa 75 YEARS AGO A special. meeting of the Publi School Boar'd.we s held on Monday evening,. The principal's report for May ' showed ,.:an, i7. bo . averageat- ' 'tendance. in� � Y,� d ... 251 girls, and;..a percentage of attendance 8 .Application a Jore h� Cl10 Society held a meeting in the carry 3,000eo le Towwn, Hall on ,Monday used p p evening toelect new officers. The new president is Sheriff e old s !Ape, e re I �, ��yWyttlia p � de>;jitr. RI, n 4,1114, , treas'u1ter, sr~tn'oit'yy.] ass, r. will be ningtnn +chairman of the powerofhcesl!bfll special committee of Town that the possibi. Council is e o meat for k . , spear -heading, ar heading, a pl Y 25>'inner S AGO drive to. tighten up traffic summer :. contro i bright ,? "�` I inGoder and if�lli tlt�id. hardly Make �; a k e , ,;Rev. "•R obe rit =G. it'safetr~ for', h'' 'vIlllan of Knox pedestrians: Foto: ver'Ia eek f b wits Irian !Church told' .rx °' an int' �t�itnner Of; the ,phurch::- ��'�* 'rt�fi�ite��lat�� ��eetr�' ° t intat.,o ,1, ! . c h, prti�` n lys'dperlritendl g—sig s fund'. ,fc t t log a M ai o 1, tit �. i' ns It:. 6tlres � the S I'ilPmef! >`Iirlt Il: deal 1 s4M, tChi ut tl •"� f Y' :�Ra ref fYif t+"? ties �oyn ,RI 4?, k al I It h;. or: if b 9r