A Liberal bill to end a 152-year old dispute over Confederation has been introduced in the Commons for a second time. The private bill would proclaim Charlottetown, not Québec City, as the cradle of the nation: “There is a little controversy”.
A taxpayer who spent 30 seconds flipping through a fraudulent return prepared by his insurance agent has been hit with a 50 percent penalty. Tax Court ruled Canadians have no excuse in signing a false return whether they read it or not: “He could not be bothered”.
A Senate bill would see cabinet draft a multilingualism policy. Minority language groups outnumber francophones in every province west of the Great Lakes, according to Statistics Canada: “We very much need to speak many languages”.
Canada in the First World War with a population of 8 million lost 61,000 dead. The tiny Kingdom of Serbia, half our size, lost 1.1 million. By any measure of modesty or good sense Canadians have some nerve in boasting of our wartime exploits as a defining moment in history. Yet the sheen of reflected military glory even today is irresistible to certain politicians who promote a “national identity that is masculinist and militarized”, writes Prof. Nancy Taber of Brock University.
Gendered Militarism in Canada examines the contradiction. It is a thoughtful book. Editor Taber brings street cred to the topic; she is a former Sea King navigator.
“I quite enjoyed serving in the military and was proud to do so,” Taber writes. “Gradually however, I began to question first my place in the military and then the military’s place in society. This question stemmed from my experience as a woman in a male-dominated institution. Always having to be on my toes, knowing I was somehow different, was an undercurrent throughout my service despite my overall success. Near the end of my short service contract (four years of university plus nine years of service) I studied for a master’s degree in adult education. It was at this point I began to problematize the enactment of gender in the military.”
Plans for the nation’s 150th anniversary drafted by the previous Conservative cabinet stress military themes as a predominant feature of the Canadian experience, though most Canadians have never served in the military – least of all the front bench of the previous cabinet.
The effect is peculiar.
Sesquicentennial observances in Heritage Canada’s Key Milestone Anniversaries On The Road To 2017 include the 1866 Fenian Raids, a series of pointless skirmishes in four municipalities including Emerson, Man. where 40 American raiders ransacked a customs office; the Battle of the Somme (we lost); Battle of Passchendaele (lost again); Dieppe Raid (lost); and Battle of Hong Kong (lost).
The role of the military in Canadian life is an interesting point of debate among historians and Legion members, but not a predominant cultural theme. Odd, then, that officialdom tried to make it so with obscure remembrances of the War of 1812 and a former prime minister who liked to pose in an air force bomber jacket. “What discourses of citizenship are being promoted, privileged and taught through these events and artifacts?” writers Taber.
“It is often stated that the military action by Canadians was and is necessary for the freedom of the country,” says Taber; “This reverence of soldiers above others is reflected in the words of Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay who stated that they ‘are the best citizens in our country.’”
Gendered Militarism sees this fetishism glamorizing the he-man infantryman as “strong, stoic, heroic, emotionally invulnerable, self-sufficient, a patriarch, a breadwinner, a protector, and one who is willing to risk personal safety for the good of the community. He is rarely overwhelmed and he is always ready to fight for a worthy cause.”
This bears little resemblance to the country many recognize – not least of all the rest of the world – as uniquely defined by sub-Arctic climate, spectacular geography and one of the planet’s largest Indigenous populations.
This is our national identity. Just ask the Serbs.
By Holly Doan
Gendered Militarism in Canada: Learning Conformity and Resistance; edited by Nancy Taber; University of Alberta Press; 272 pages; ISBN 9781-7721-120844; $34.95
An RCMP staffer fired for smoking marijuana at a police party has won compensation at a federal labour board. The ruling by the Public Service Labour Relations & Employment Board is the first since the panel was named in legislation to adjudicate Mountie disputes: ‘He never went to work drunk’.
A Senate bill for independent oversight of the Canada Border Services Agency has “some pieces missing”, says a civil rights group. The bill follows 14 deaths in Agency custody, including two in the past month: “Police should not investigate police”.
Industry protests have prompted Health Canada to ease long-delayed regulations on safe drinking water aboard commercial public transport carriers. Rules for testing of E.coli bacteria and other contamination have been under review since 2005: ‘The cost is small enough’.
Critics of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have launched an internet campaign to bypass federal “consultations” on the trade pact. Opponents said parliamentary hearings to date have been dominated by business and institutional groups: ‘The more Canadians find out, the less they like it’.
School board polices are to blame for poor French immersion rates that have flat-lined for a generation, says bilingualism commissioner Graham Fraser. The remarks follow new federal research to promote the “economic benefits” of learning French 47 years after Parliament passed the Official Languages Act: “How long is it going to take?”
Policing costs per capita have nearly doubled since 1993 with 80¢ of every police department dollar going to salaries and benefits, says new Statistics Canada data. A former executive director of the federal Police Sector Council described rising costs as unsustainable: “I’m paying a $92,000-a year cop to stand on a corner directing traffic”.
The Coast Guard is testing a drone to spot Atlantic “ice conditions”. Officials would not confirm the device is intended to monitor this spring’s seal hunt, the first since Parliament imposed a 1.9-kilometre media quarantine around the annual kill: “You have no business being out there”.
Any greenhouse gas tax to offset the “social cost of carbon” would total $38 per tonne, according to federal memos obtained through Access To Information. Canadians each produce 23 tonnes a year on average – the equivalent of $874 worth of emissions — with driving, home heating and other everyday activities that burn fuel, by federal estimate: “It is inherently uncertain”.
Companies carrying on business as “tour operators” can book and sell airline tickets on third-party aircraft without a federal license, regulators have ruled. The decision revives Winnipeg-based discounter NewLeaf Travel Co. that offered low-cost flights on aircraft it had no license to operate: “It seems an extraordinary action”.
Canadians have nothing to fear from eating canned foods exposed to toxic bisphenol A, says the Department of Health. Research by Environmental Defence and other groups found 67 percent of foods randomly selected at grocery stores tested positive for traces of the chemical in can linings: “We want stronger action”.
Cabinet’s pledge of $20 billion in long-term funding for renewable energy must avoid costly mistakes that saw Ontarians pay billions too much for renewable power, says an energy consultant. One Ontario program guaranteed rooftop solar panel owners more than ten times the retail price for electricity: “Don’t let this happen to you”.
