Canadianism

Canadianism or Canadian patriotism refers to a patriotism involving cultural attachment of Canadians to Canada as their homeland. It has been identified as related, though in some cases distinct, to Canadian nationalism. In contemporary times, this patriotism has commonly emphasized Canada as a multicultural cosmopolitan society.

Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald worked with George-Étienne Cartier and other representatives, in founding the country, in which Canada was recognized as having been created by 'two founding races' which the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism later defined as 'Canadians of British and French origin' apart from 'the other ethnic groups' to the explicit exclusion of 'the Indians and the Eskimos' in its Book I. General Introduction, Paragraph 21, often referred to today as English Canadians and French Canadians.

Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier in his 1911 electoral defeat speech, responded to various accusations by asserting his support for Canadianism, saying:

I am branded in Quebec as a traitor to the French and in Ontario as a traitor to the English. In Quebec I am branded as a Jingo, and in Ontario as a Separatist. In Quebec I am attacked as an Imperialist, and in Ontario as an anti-Imperialist. I am neither. I am a Canadian. Canada has been the inspiration of my life. I have before me as a pillar of fire by night and as a pillar of cloud by day a policy of true Canadianism, of moderation, of conciliation. I have followed it consistently since 1896, and now I appeal with confidence to the whole Canadian people to uphold me in this policy of sound Canadianism which makes for the greatness of our country and of the Empire.

Canadianism was especially important within the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party figures such as O. D. Skelton neither rejected ties between Canada and United Kingdom, nor claimed that Canadians composed a unitary nation - taking into account rejections of this by French Canadian supporters of a Canadian patriotism, such as Henri Bourassa.Pierre Elliot Trudeau, as Prime Minister of Canada sought to develop a common Canadianism across cultural boundaries through advancing a Canadian society based upon civic rights, as manifested with the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Trudeau emphasized Canada as being a multicultural society, his vision of multiculturalism was individualist in associating cultural identity with individual choice.

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