What makes a real Canadian.

I was recently lucky enough to come a cross a thread that was called Beautiful Real Canadian Women at a popular tv news site website. They were gathering a list of real Canadian woman and there were requirements as to what constituted a Beautiful real Canadian.

Eg. You had to have been born and bread in Canada.
Your origin had to be British or French, no ethnics allowed.

I was not really clear on the last point, cause I really thought that first nations people that were born in Canada, were real Canadians, God knows they were there before everyone else. Also I was under the impression that if one was born in Canada and breed there, one was also a real Canadian, no matter the ethnicity. Heck before that thread, my definition had been so broad that it had included people not born in Canada as being real Canadian. I had thought that as long as
your heart, your hopes, and your dreams were all bound in Canada, then you were a Canadian, but I was about to get a real education.

Apparently a real Canadian is limited in some circles, to this definition.




This is the definition of being a real Canadian on a really popular Canadian news forum, but more importantly it's the definition by I am sure quite a few Canadians.

The fact that people can have these opinions, and discuss them openly in public is I think what makes countries like Canada great. Because as much as I disagree with this definition, I think it's good that we can have open definitions about it.

The following was my response to the above poster.




I can't begin to express how strongly I feel on this point, or the myriad of reasons for my feelings on this point, but needless to say, I think and feel that if you come to this country, or any other country for that matter, you work hard, respect the rules, are willing to live, work, fight, and love that country, then that to me should make a person worthy to be defined and called a real citizen of that country.

I don't think birth or breeding makes a person a citizen of a country. How many times have I seen countries, their flags, and laws spit upon, burnt, or disrespected, by those that were born and bread there?

How many times have I seen those born and bread, who fit the ethnic and definition not willing to work for, go to war for, or show any dedication for this country? Yet if you are born on this soil all is forgivable?

I find it deeply offensive, that first nations people who were in this country, well before anyone else got here, and who were born and bread here for centuries before any European set foot on this soil, do not meet the definition of what is considered to be a true Canadian.

I also find it offensive, because it is their word, kanata" which in Huron-Iroquois language means "village" or "settlement", that was used to name and Christen this country.

I also find it offensive that the Governor General of Canada, would be excluded from this list, because she was not born in Canada, but she represents the Queens interest in Canada. I also find it hard to believe that even if she had been born and bread in Canada, she would still be
excluded from this list of real Canadian woman, due to her ethnicity. Even though she speaks English and french better than many born and bread in Canada.

My definition is more broad and open, because it is the wave after wave of immigrants that have made this country what it is, the bad and the good. The variety, those ethnic dishes that are spoken of by some, as the only reason to let ethnic say in the country, if they are serving
those dishes. That multiculturalism is part of what we are known and respected for. That weave is why we have Toronto, which is the most multicultural city in the world, more languages are spoken in Toronto than any other country in the world. Toronto is seen as a model for many other laces, where many cultures can live and work together.

Wave after wave is what made Canada a great country. I know there are those that will differ in opinion, and they have the right to do so, and from what I have seen the number is great and going unchallenged day by day.

My definition however is far more board and varied, because it's all these voices that have made the country great, it's all those little pieces put together one by one, that have made this quilt that we call Canada. Generation after generation, we are a changing and emerging society.

If we are going to continue to function and stay strong, then some of us are going to have to think about opening up that definition to a broader audience.

I would love to think that someone could come to this country, live, work, love and respect this country and in time they and their children could be counted into this great quilt that we call Canada. Maybe I am naive, but I think it's our many voices that makes us strong, and free, because we have shown ourselves to be a society that can tolerate and accept so much diversity.

In my opinion these narrowed and exclusionary definitions, are whats wrong right now with Canada. Too many Canadians are being born, growing up, or coming to Canada and not feeling Canadian. These exclusionary views are making citizens who might potentially grow to love this country, feel not a part of it, and when you create this kind of disconnectedness in a society you have repercussions down the line for many generations, and a nation that has the potential to be strong, proud and unified, becomes divided and divides into it's little ethnicity's as people try to find a place, to fit in, in that society.

When we come with narrow definitions like this, and then wonder why people don't feel the loyalty to Canada that we expect, are we really surprised. If you exclude people with this narrow and exclusionary definitions, don't be surprised, when the results are people that growing up in that society and not feeling connected to it. That definition is true for people born here, or abroad, and bread here or abroad, if any society excludes others, they then in time will exclude and reject that society.

Our strength as a nation is in our unity and diversity, it's maybe time some of us considered broadening our definitions to include people that are Canadian, by more than just birth or British or French heritage.