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Thread: Why does Canada cling to British colonial roots?

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    Default Why does Canada cling to British colonial roots?

    Back in 1982 when I was the Star's bureau chief in Ottawa, I met Lord Moran, who then was the British high commissioner to Canada.
    Our meeting was cordial, but I got the distinct impression that Lord Moran, whose real name is John Wilson, was completely bored with our session, as well as with Ottawa, Canada and Canadians as a whole.
    From his pompous attitude, which stuffy Brits like Lord Moran carry off so well, it was clear he saw most Canadians as inferior colonials with limited talents and even less curiosity.

    Turns out my first impression was right, as evidenced by a 1984 dispatch that Lord Moran, who was high commissioner from 1981 to 1984, sent to London on his departure from Ottawa.
    The letter, obtained by the BBC from the British Foreign Office under Freedom of Information legislation and made public earlier this week, trashes Canadians in general, our politicians, especially the late Pierre Trudeau, our writers, actors and even our skiers.
    Reading the six-page letter, titled "Final Impressions of Canada," reminded me of that meeting with Lord Moran.

    It also made me wonder why, if top British diplomats like him hold us in such low esteem, Canada continues to cling to its British colonial roots, complete with having us acknowledge Queen Elizabeth as "the Queen of Canada."
    It's a question Canadians should be asking during the coming 11-day visit to Canada by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, which starts Nov. 2.
    When his 83-year-old mother eventually dies, Charles will become "the King of Canada."

    Now, Charles may be a decent guy on some level, but I doubt many Canadians want him as our "king."
    Those who do are likely part of the tiny pro-monarchist set who see everything British, especially culture and royalty, as superior.
    For them, Wilson, now 85, could be a poster boy.
    Born into an aristocratic family, he is still a member of the House of Lords. But this is a lord with an attitude of superiority all too pervasive among British upper classes.

    In his final letter, Lord Moran wrote dismissively of Canadians, all the while boasting of how much better life was in the homeland.
    "One does not encounter here the ferocious competition of talent that takes place in the United Kingdom ... Anyone who is even moderately good at what they do – in literature, the theatre, skiing or whatever – tends to become a national figure, and anyone who stands out at all from the crowd tends to be praised to the skies and given the Order of Canada at once."
    Did his lordship never read a book by Margaret Atwood? Or see a play with Christopher Plummer?

    To the delight of today's right-wing bloggers, he hated Trudeau.
    "He has never entirely shaken off his past as a well-to-do hippie and draft dodger," Wilson wrote. "He is an odd fish and his own worst enemy, and on the whole I think his influence on Canada in the past 16 years has been detrimental."
    He said the level of debate in the Commons was terrible and added that "the majority of Canadian ministers are unimpressive and a few we have found frankly bizarre."

    And he tut-tutted that the Canadian public "tends to shrug its shoulders when the press or television report yet another scandal."
    I hope Lord Moran was properly outraged by the scandals that rocked Britain this year when dozens of MPs were found to have used public money for their personal expenses, such as cleaning their moats.
    Lord Moran was partly correct, though, when he said Canadians are sensitive to "any expressed or implied British sneers about Canada as `boring,' and perhaps somewhat lacking in self-confidence."
    That's because many Canadians are indeed offended when snobbish, class-ridden British nobility tell us folks in "the colonies" that we aren't up to their standards.

    We don't need to take any lessons from silly British diplomats.
    What we do need is mutual respect from Britain and its official representatives. That's the minimum we should expect from London in return for having Canadians pledge allegiance to their Queen.
    If we can't get even that, then we should tell the Queen and Prince Charles that we are cutting all our outdated colonial ties to the monarchy and Britain, and that we will start acting like a fully independent country in the 21st century.
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    Probably because it's part of Canada's heritage, tradition and history. What are they supposed to do, pretend they came into being some other way?


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    Colonial supporters of the British establishment smack of heart broken, romantically jilted people.

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    The more appropriate question is, "Why wouldn't they?" What's a mystery however is why Canada isn't considered a dominion of the UK, when new citizens have to swear an oath of loyalty to the Crown and the British Monarch is the Head of State. That's damn close to the definition of a Dominion (swearing an oath of loyalty to the Crown to be a parliament member.)


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    It was called the Dominion of Canada until recently, however the Oath of Allegiance is to the Queen of Canada, not the British monarch


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    Quote Originally Posted by 007 View Post
    however the Oath of Allegiance is to the Queen of Canada, not the British monarch
    No wonder people hate lawyers.

    Post #666!



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    IMO it's the only true Canadian thing about Canada. The Canadian parliament, in bed with the NWO did everything they could to detach themselves from their British Colonial heritage by scrapping the old Red Ensign, changing the national anthem, and underwent a complete makeover because the immigrants and the French (not all, but alot) were too upset over having the Union Jack superimposed over the flag, and saw that as bigoted and to a degree, racist.

    Canada has a glorious history that was pretty much altogether forgotten, and replaced with the 'new face' of Canada, where everyone is welcome, and everyone is Canadian. The Maple Leaf replaces the true symbols on the old flag of the founding settler peoples of the land (Irish, Scots, French, English) and now we're told that the only true Canadian thing is to accept everyone and everything and make them part of the ongoing history of Canada. Such bullshit if you ask me.
    "Free, do you call yourself? Then I would hear your ruling thought, and not merely that you have escaped from a yoke. Are you one of those who had the right to escape from a yoke? Many a one has cast away his last worth when he has cast away his servitude. Free from what? What does that matter to Zarathustra! But your fiery eyes should tell me: free for what?" - Thus Spoke Zarathustra


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    I always thought of Canada as the Scandinavia of North America that is a scarcely populated area , a land made up uf Nordics mostly blue eyed and blonde , an advanced society , environmentally focused and with fully equality between men and women , well it seems it has been this way a looong time ago.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Óttar View Post
    No wonder people hate lawyers.

    Post #666!

    So sue me, it's a different office.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony View Post
    I always thought of Canada as the Scandinavia of North America that is a scarcely populated area , a land made up uf Nordics mostly blue eyed and blonde , an advanced society , environmentally focused and with fully equality between men and women , well it seems it has been this way a looong time ago.
    How come Canada would have been blonde and blue eyed, when most of the original colonists were made up of what is British and French stock?

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