She lived in the bush outside of Thunder Bay. A single mom with twelve kids (one disabled) and no job.
Her late husband Sam had invested in boat tickets, packed their things in a small trunk, and sailed his family to claim free land west of the Lakehead, in Northern Ontario.
In 1904, he became the first farmer from a family of English fishmongers.
Stalwart Peasants
Parliament needed to settle Canada quickly or lose it to the Americans. Sir Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior 1896-1905, advertised for sturdy immigrants.
Sifton thought that, “a stalwart peasant in a sheep-skin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half dozen children, is a good quality.”
Sam, “a stalwart peasant,” claimed his land-locked plot of mosquito-infested swamp and softwood outside of what is now Thunder Bay. He moved his clan into a tiny shack and started ‘farming.’
Thunder Bay is Canadian shield. That means rocks, stunted trees, and very little topsoil. For a few years, Sam dragged, rolled, and piled enough rocks to create chest-high windrows around little plots of bare ground.
Then he died.
Sam left his wife with land no one wanted and no way back to England. The farm had no road access. No hydro. No money. Even country songs aren’t that cruel.
My grandfather was twelve when his dad died. It fell to him to run the farm, if we can call it that, and care for his old and disabled family members. He found time to marry in his late thirties, terribly old for 1940.
The rest of the story is typical. Four kids sleeping in one bed. A cow and a calf. Chickens and a garden.
Grandpa’s part-time job driving a grader for the township brought in enough money to keep farming. Eventually, farming became less survival and more lifestyle.
Prejudice Is Not New
Cultural prejudice was common. Today, we would call much of it racism, without the riots.
Brits frowned on ‘lewd’ Finnish saunas. Finns scoffed at teacups and Christmas pudding. Italians irritated everyone with their laughter and kissing.
Each group saved jobs, merchandise, and favours for their own people. After three generations, we all intermarried and still make fun of each other.
Every town has had its own mix of tension. Newer Canadians, from countries beyond Europe, tell similar stories but on a different time trajectory. Name calling, ostracism, and physical violence are ancient human behaviours: wrong but not new.
Oh no, Canada
In its first 100 years, Canada offered a miracle for anyone willing to work for it. Where else could you go from single parent to landowner in fifty years? The last fifty have been similar – although harder and slower, as people slave to fund themselves and the welfare state, at the same time. But still, Canada has offered a place for people to better themselves.
This is good and worth celebrating.
Critical theorists say we have it backwards. They say that settlers stole the land.
But the land was barren. Nobody wanted it, not even the 100,000 indigenous people spread across the country at the time.
They say that settlers came by privilege and extortion: colonialism!
But settlers were dirt poor and tricked into settling untamed rocks and swamp. They built isolated shacks across the north with their own hands, not palaces on plantations with slave labour.
Critical theorists inflame their righteous followers. Zealots form rowdy parades demanding that people pay their fair share.
Most Canadians have paid far more than their fair share of taxes. Taxpayers fund everything and everyone, on top of their charitable giving.
True, we have always had some landed aristocracy bringing wealth from other lands. And today, we have some second and third generation families living off the welfare state. But for the most part, Canada was built by people who wanted to work.
The Future Requires a Past
If we do not celebrate what Canada is and what it was, there will be nothing for Canada to become. We cannot recreate Canada with each social-justice fever.
At 15, a son thinks he is so much smarter and more enlightened than his dad. At 25, he is surprised at how much dad has learned in ten years.
As you celebrate Canada Day, take a moment to celebrate what made Canada great. Freedom. Strength. Courage. Fortitude. Faith. Hope. Neighbourliness. Courtesy. Gratitude. Humility. Peace. And much more.
Canada did not exist before we built it. And it was not built on outrage, intolerance, and sneering self-righteousness.
Most Canadians are still proud of our country. We look forward to change and making things better, but we do not hate all the people who came before us, even if we disagree with them. Making things better is part of what it means to be Canadian!
Many insist you should feel ashamed of your heritage, your country, and your future. Hopefully, the woke can take a break for one day.
I wish you all the best of what Canada was, is, and will become.
Happy Canada Day!
Really excellent Shawn. And needed. And if it goes viral you’ll be pilloried for it.
🙂
I suspect it will be ignored before being attacked!
Great to hear from you.
Happy Canada Day!
Excellent article.
Burying myself in tracking my wife’s family through Ancestry (she’s a racial cocktail Norse/ French/ Welsh/ Scottish/ Irish/ native Canadian/ Native American…is actually related to Pocahontas ) originating from the earliest years of North American settlement…the early settlers were a tough and hard breed who faced trials and tribulations as they cleared and worked the land.
Their efforts should be celebrated and lauded….those Canadians who condemn them should take the first flight to their original homelands once COVID allows air travel.
Canada owes us nothing…. we owe Canada everything, in particular we legal immigrants.
As Shawn pointed out earlier , Canada is not the 51 st State of the country to its south, it has its history and Canada has its history.
Canada has its history of slavery, it existed amongst the native population before the first European stepped on its soil…not counting the Viking settlement in NFLand hundreds of years before the French wave and then the British wave…under British rule the Slavery Abolition Act was carried out in 1833…my own ancestors were freed in 1861 by the Imperial Russian Emancipation…In the USA Emancipation came about in 1862 thanks to Abraham Lincoln , the leader of the anti slavery Republican Party and the final Civil War victory of General Grant in 1865…the US wokes being busy at present tearing their statues down, not the brightest sparks.
Throughout the 19th. Century Canada was the terminus of the Underground railway which allowed by 1850, 100,000 Slaves from the US slave states to escape North to freedom…most crossing by boat across Lake Erie and Ontario.
Canadians should be celebrating their tremendously diverse history …2033 ( the double centenary of the end of slavery) is 13 years from now, we should celebrate that date and let those to our South celebrate their significant dates …they are not ours and we should not pretend and behave as they were.
Canadians should distinguish between earned guilt and unearned guilt and treat collective guilt with the contempt that it deserves.
Certainly Canadians should not go around bearing the unearned collective guilt of those to our South on their shoulders be it the USA…Mexico , Brazil or the rest of the Spanish new world for that matter.
That should stoke the fires.
Thanks for sharing all this history, Andris! And for the commentary too.
I like how you’ve focussed on the positive celebration of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. This is what we need to be doing. Everyone makes major mistakes — countries especially. We need to judge them by how we respond and correct our mistakes. You’ve offered a brilliant example.
Thanks so much!
Well said Shawn, and well said Andris. I was born in the middle of the last century, and heard many tales of hard work and struggling against nature. My parents’ few photos from the early 1900’s illustrate much of what Shawn described. But we were always told we were “middle class”, even though my father’s idea of a vacation was to use his week or two away from his paid job in order to make hay and cut firewood. The legacy they gave me was the example of a stable family, working hard at what you do, getting educated if you can, and always living within your means. We Canadians of all ethnicities are indeed privileged, but rather than guilty I feel thankful and indebted.
Well said: thankful, indebted, hard work, frugality, family, improving oneself. These build a strong country.
I forgot about the 2 weeks’ vacation as a chance to get work done on the farm. Classic.
Thanks so much for celebrating the best Canada has to offer. I hope one day isn’t too much for those who disagree.
Cheers
Excellent Shawn! It’s Canada Day! Collectively let’s take a break from the victimhood culture of entitlement that has permeated our social fabric! Let’s celebrate Canada Day. recognizing the contribution of the people of good will who built our great nation. Our present freedoms and comforts are the fruits of their grit, their courage and their sacrifices. We stand on the shoulders of an ancestry that clearly sought to do good, to raise families, to build communities, to establish order based in justice, to expand and to prosper while assisting those in need and protecting those requiring protection. Clearly, had our ancestors simply sought to serve themselves, we would not be enjoyIng the privileges that we do. Thank you for courageously sharing your family’s story! Happy Canada Day!
Well said, Paul
Grit, courage, sacrifice, justice, assisting others…these are all worth celebrating for sure.
Thanks so much for posting!
Victimhood and identity politics characterize the present woke SJW Marxist movement with their easily recognized , rather limited, political vocabulary.
Sad to see all that energy being expended in such a destructive manner…toppling the statue of Mahatma Gandhi ( my hero as a child) in Leicester England typifies the mindless blindness of the woke movement …certainly he was not perfect, no one is or ever has been.
Anyone who is unfortunate enough to read this. I’m sorry what he has said is unacceptable. To any indigenous person I understand the pain of colonialism and it shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of “Happy Canada Day”. This is a poor example of leadership and professionalism in medicine. I expect more from supposed fellow “mentors”.
Thanks so much for taking time to read and post a comment, Allyson — especially a contrary opinion.
I meant no offence by enjoining a celebration of Canada Day. I am grieved whenever I think about the plight of Canada’s indigenous population. We need to do better, for sure. I am confident that we can. Assigning villains and victims does not help. We need to focus on the future and what can be done better.
I simply shared my family’s history as an example of my personal history — ‘lived experience’ to use the modern idiom. I am so grateful for all they did. It’s too bad that we only celebrate their sacrifice, courage, and commitment one day each year.
Thanks again for posting. I really appreciate the opportunity to respond to those who disagree with me. Excellent.
Best regards,
To those who appreciate free speech and a free and open society are fortunate to be able to read Shawn’s essay, no matter their perspective…in this current PC SJW woke culture of tyrannical censorship one can expect activists to demand a retraction from him. and then an insistence on him self flagellating with grovelling self criticism as per the innocent victims during Mao’s cultural revolution( of which Xi was a victim) .
Born in a world of the clash between the two totalitarian Marxist socialist Titans with members of my family sent to the Gulag by the one and Belsen Concentration camp by the other , leaving my mother and myself as the sole survivors…I’m rather allergic to the Marxist political philosophy driving events in today’s world, which would inevitably end up as a totalitarian hell if it gains the upper hand.
Orwell , a Marxist who took the “ red pill”, nailed it, having anticipated the presently evolving dystopian society in ‘1984’ with Newspeak and Big Brother/ Sister surveillance , in particular through social media.
Voltaire must be rolling in his grave , his quote “ I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”( actually it was originally stated by a woman whose name escapes me) has been reversed “ I disapprove of what you say and I will persecute you for saying it”.
One hopes that those who disagree with Shawn’s essay will “ fight to the death” his right to say what he has to say…but in the present environment, I doubt that there are many with that strength of character.
Hi Shawn. This was an interesting blog to me. I find your history very touching and the themes of working hard and surviving adversity resonated.
But I disagree about your conclusion that nobody wanted this land just because it wasn’t farmed. The land was used, entire cultures existed long before our immigrant ancestors settled here. The impact of colonialism on just our Indigenous people alone has created downstream impact still being felt 153 years later and we can’t ignore that. Especially on Canada Day.
I find it interesting that people still believe in this concept of having built Canada up through *their* hard work. They don’t get how that offends or hurts or ignores everyone who came before, who had already made Canada what it was, who were systematically abused and shunted aside by the ones who ended up writing history.
It makes me wonder what message will finally break through this persistent delusion.
I found Canada Day bittersweet. Yes, I’m glad my family immigrated here, sacrificed and worked hard — we survived and succeeded. I am
grateful be a Canadian and I love paying it forward by giving back to my community. But … Canada has a history that is also of the Indian Act and the 60s scoop and Brian Sinclair and forced sterilization. It was also the way my husband’s Chinese family were treated like animals as they built the Great Canadian Railway. It was internment camps and discrimination against the Irish during the Famine and the KKK and so on. So I had a difficult time celebrating and instead found myself … reflective. As did my kids.
Your opinion is shared by many. It makes me wonder, how do we get through that being Canadian doesn’t mean a Pollyanna version of settler/immigrant history but a truth that is far more complex and challenging? How do we stop the message being dismissed as too “woke” or “social justice whining”?
Maybe rather than celebrating an incomplete version of the past, Canada Day should be a day where we reflect on our true history, the good and the bad, and then celebrate by committing to making our future better?
Thanks so much, Nadia.
I agree that Canada includes terrible decisions, made with good intentions, but also suffering caused by bad intentions too. This applies to all countries. That’s why we need to put history on display with statues, plaques, and heritage buildings. We must never forget the good and the bad.
Please remember, Canada was at risk of becoming the USA. We needed to settle the wide empty spaces of Canada or become Americans. Would you rather the British never came to Canada and that we were all Americans instead?
My family history comes to me directly over 120 years. Our land was uninhabited and largely uninhabitable. This is a fact. It is lived history.
I mean no offence by not celebrating someone else’s history. However, if you are suggesting that my family’s sacrifice was anything less than heroic, I find that insensitive (to put it politely), in light of the story I shared. Perhaps you did not mean that, but your comment seems to imply you do: “I find it interesting that people still believe in this concept of having built Canada up through *their* hard work.” I will cling to the hope that you did not mean this applies to me or my family.
I agree with your call to celebrate our true history! Let’s highlight how we have gone from poor peasants, fighting against an unforgiving wilderness, to a prosperous country that delights most people who come here. Canada is great. Let’s celebrate that, even just for one day each year.
Thanks so much for writing and giving me a chance to respond.
Warm regards,
“Presentism” is a cultural biased philosophical fallacy afflicting the moderns, interpreting past events by modern day beliefs , values and concepts, denying and condemning historical facts.
Would they want to topple the statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia because of the atrocities committed by his Mongol armies in the 13 th. Century? Demand reparations from Mongolia?
The destruction of statues from Ancient Greece and Rome ?
Such presentism , in the attempt to erase history, has given the modern world the destruction of cultural heritages in Afghanistan , Iraq , Syria , Libya and elsewhere.
Now its the statues of the founding fathers of Canadian Confederation that are under scrutiny and threat as well as Canada’s war memorials ….without whom and their actions few if any of us immigrants would be here.
“ Civilized life is based on the acceptance of imperfection”….utopians seeking to create utter perfection usually end up creating hell on earth.
Give Canada the credit, it is rated as the 4th. least racist country in the world with New Zealand at #1, Norway #2 and Iceland at #3….which is why so many from around the world try to migrate here.
The most racist rated countries are #1 India followed by Lebanon, Bahrain, Libya, Egypt, South Africa, Phillipines, Kuwait, Japan, Korea, Pakistan ( there are several lists with the same countries appearing in different order)
Canada welcomes immigrants from all over the world, hopefully most will leave their bigotry and prejudices at the door.
Shawn,your words on this topic are not only acceptable and welcome,but I was fortunate to read them.I believe the VAST majority feel the same.
Are we to bear responsibility and guilt for the sins of the past ?
How will THAT help physician ‘burn out’ ????
Those that want to promote virtue signalers(like cottage boy)and social justice warriors are able to do so BECAUSE of what this country has become,through the lessons learned and past experiences.Canada has done well,and for perspective,perhaps we should reflect on countries like China,Russia,Iran,Turkey to name just a few.
Thanks for this, Ram.
A number of emails express the same gratitude you share: gratitude for Canada, and gratitude that someone had the courage to say it.
If we do not love our home, we have no home. Home means love, friendship, and celebration of our ancestors. Loving our home means celebrating all the good things that happened to make it so. There is a time for sack-cloth and ashes. Canada Day is not one of them. It breaks my heart to see people who have been blessed by the effort and sacrifice of those who’ve come before us lecturing that our past was largely, if not entirely, evil.
Oikophilia means love of home and the environment that surrounds it. Oikophobia is an aversion to home; it is a mental problem. Critical theory celebrates oikophobia in order to advance the inversion of society.
Ok…sorry, started to geek out there.
Thanks so much for taking time to read and post a comment!
Cheers
The moderns seem to have embraced the philosophy of self hatred ( Afto-Misos) combined with Oikophobia .
Hey Shawn,
I liked your post and added it to my Facebook.
Well written.
Hey thanks, Brett. Great to hear from you.
It sparked a flashmob on two FB pages. Just warning you. Socially righteous people believe everyone must first confess their sins before expressing thanks for their ancestors, traditions, or country.
Happy Canada Day!
Cheers
Thank heavens for Wikipedia! Otherwise you guys would have totally geeked me out. Here’s what they say about Greek Yogurt:
“The ancient Greek word oikos (ancient Greek: οἶκος, plural: οἶκοι; English prefix: eco- for ecology and economics) refers to three related but distinct concepts: the family, the family’s property, and the house. Its meaning shifts even within texts, which can lead to confusion.[1]
“The oikos was the basic unit of society in most Greek city-states. In normal Attic usage the oikos, in the context of families, referred to a line of descent from father to son from generation to generation.[2] Alternatively, as Aristotle used it in his Politics, the term was sometimes used to refer to everybody living in a given house. Thus, the head of the oikos, along with his immediate family and his slaves, would all be encompassed.[3] Large oikoi also had farms that were usually tended by the slaves, which were also the basic agricultural unit of the ancient economy.”
Whatever happened to Dominion Day? When I stepped off the propeller plane that brought our family over from Europe in the 1960s (I only recently learned that my parents paid to fly so they wouldn’t have to “manage me” for days on end on a ship), it was Dominion Day and there was no yogurt.
HAPPY CANADA DAY!! Let’s beat ourselves up over the sins of someone else’s forefathers some other day, and work on making the future happy for everyone.
Very funny, Anonymous! Nice to hear there were rambunctious kids in the 60s too.
Great to hear that oikophilia captured your attention. It’s a nerdy bit of political philosophy, but I find the modern use of the word sums up my thinking. Simply put, it is love of one’s home and local environment. As Tolkien said about Hobbits, “But where our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet, and good tilled earth. For all Hobbits share a love for things that grow.”
I hear the Dominion flag is now barely tolerable also. My grandfather on my mom’s side fought for Canada under the Red Ensign. Lest we forget has become we must never remember.
Yes, Happy Canada Day to you also. Although I must say that the response from some colleagues has left me with a profound sadness. Sadness at the loss of liberalism, civility, and rational discussion. It seems ok for many to label others as evil and guilty based on a few words, or even the absence of words. Astounding.
Back to you, Greek Yogurt, and airplanes. Very funny — keep smiling!
Cheers
Hi Shawn,
I originally posted this reply in a Facebook group, but I thought I might post it here as well to reach a larger audience. I am sure you are aware that a very large number of people found this post to be in poor taste. I am hoping this reply may help you understand why some of the things you said did not sit well with me.
First, I want to acknowledge that I appreciated the first 1/4 of your post, where you outlined your family’s history and how they overcame hardships. If you had just left it there, I doubt anyone would have taken issue with it.
I think the problematic aspects of your posts came when you started to minimize other Canadians’ experiences of racism or prejudice. Of course, white settlers went through a lot of hardships – my own great-grandparents included. But while my ancestors faced hundreds of barriers, the colour of their skin was never one of them. This doesn’t mean I can’t be proud of what my great-grandparents accomplished (I am), but I have to acknowledge that their settlement story is very different from the story of black, indigenous, and other Canadians of colour. In fact, I have to acknowledge that some of my ancestor’s successes likely ended up coming at a cost to the indigenous communities, even if this did not occur from a place of malevolence.
I also took offence to the part where you implied that “anyone willing to work for it” was offered a miracle. That may have been the cases for some of the original settlers but was certainly not the experience for everyone. This comment leads me to think you feel that anyone who was not able to succeed in Canada just didn’t work hard enough; something that we certainly know is not true. There were and are systemic factors that make it much more difficult for certain groups to get ahead in our society.
Let me be clear – I love Canada, and there is no other country in the world that I would rather call my home. I do consider myself to be a proud Canadian. But as a Canadian, I think it is very important that we continuously act to make the country that we love an even better and more just place. If we ignore the negative aspects of our history – and more importantly our present – then we can’t grow as a country. And as much as I love my country, I know we can do better.
Thanks so much for this, Kelli.
Seriously, I appreciate the time you took to write, the civility with which you wrote, and the opportunity you give me, and others, to respond. In doing this, you put in action the social graces required for civil society to function. Inspiring…and I say that without a hint of sarcasm.
You raised a number of points. I’ll respond in a list:
1. I’m glad you liked the “first 1/4” of my post. My personal history was actually just under 50% of the post, so I am glad you liked that bit. Thanks! (The end of “we are all intermarried” sentence is 371 words of an 846 word piece.)
2. “…You started to minimize other Canadians’ experiences of racism and prejudice.” I did not write about other people’s experiences; this is true. I never intended to. Perhaps, this is what people find offensive: the fact that I did not start with a declaration of how terrible Canada was, is, and continues to be?
Or perhaps people committed the logical fallacy of affirming the consequent? As you recall, it goes like this: All cats have whiskers; this animal has whiskers; therefore it is a cat. But maybe the animal is a mouse?
The fallacy of racism goes this way: All racists will not talk about racism. The post did not talk about racism. Therefore, the author is racist. But not writing about racism does not make one a racist. Quite frankly, I find it all appalling. It turns my stomach in much the same way that human trafficking and pedophilia does.
Those who jump to impugn do not know me. I have many indigenous family members, living in indigenous communities, as well as family members working with the indigenous people. I have a better sense than many of the hardships suffered; not an expert, but more informed than many.
My brother-in-law is indigenous. He and my sister, with their children live in an indigenous community in northern Ontario. Also, my brother works full-time as a social worker on a reservation. And my cousin and his wife have been foster parents for many, many indigenous children, caring for them as their own; raising them with his own young children. I have met a number of them and heard their heart-breaking stories. Had I written the blog about racism, I would have included this and much more. But I wanted to focus on the positive…just for a few hours…
3. I am glad that your grandparents did not suffer any race-based exclusion. My grandfather suffered major barriers as an english-speaking Brit in a Finnish community. I could list all the ways he was excluded, ostracized, made fun of, skipped over, etc., etc — which had material impact — but again, I did not want to focus on the negative. As for the pain and suffering of other people, I did not set out to write their story.
4. “…but I have to acknowledge that their settlement story is very different from the story of black, indigenous, and other Canadians of colour.” I agree. And perhaps this is what triggered some people: they insist that anyone who says anything about Canada must first confess Canada’s failings. Is this rational or even possible?
5. “I also took offences to the part where you implied that “anyone willing to work for it” was offered a miracle.” I agree that work does not guarantee success. My great grandfather died while pursing work — clearly no success there. My point was simply that, in Canada, most people can work to get ahead. That’s what attracts the world to our door. Work is no guarantee of success, but it hold more promise than not working.
Again, thank you so much for writing and for giving me a chance to respond. If we cannot talk as neighbours, giving each other the benefit of the doubt, we really have no country left to celebrate.
Best regards,
Shawn
Shawn,
Please be aware that a MUCH LARGER group of people found your post to be in good taste,are in agreement,love our country(despite its present PM),and cherish its history despite the mistakes…..again,perspective is important(China,Russia,Iran,North Korea,Turkey).
Western society/citizens seem to have no clue as to what is most important…..unless they’ve seen the other side,and appreciate the freedoms we enjoy.
Thanks Ram!
Sure appreciate you saying this. I think you nailed it. People have tired of the negativity. I have never had a post with so many strong and polar-opposite views.
I think it speaks to something deeper…have been inspired to write more about it (of course)!
Thanks again,
The silent majority of Canadians including legal immigrants love Canada “warts and all” ( Oliver Cromwell said those words to the painter who was painting his portrait)…Canada has fewer “ warts” than most countries on this planet which is why it attracts immigrants from around the world.
The PC wokes have made the magnification of “ warts” their cause célèbre …negativity has seemingly compromised their hippocampi leading to a downward spiral leading to negative consequences.
There is nothing positive about negativity and Shaun’s episode of Canadian patriotitis was refreshing.
Hey Andris
Thanks again for this. I couldn’t keep up with all of your other comments, but I sure appreciate the historical gems you pepper into your replies!
Cheers