Canada’s relations with other nations, even its neighbours to the south, are a meandering tale of war and peace, dispute and resolution, trade/no trade, friend and foe. Even Canadian roots penetrate deep in the soils of two warring nations, Britain and France. Canada emerged from two world wars with new self-assurance and a greater sense of its place in the world. Enemies became friends; friends became enemies. O Canada: Canada and the world examines the hot and cold, to and fro, pro and con of some of Canada’s key relationships and its evolving place in the world.
Among those living outside its borders, regard for the vast, youthful land of the Maple Leaf has tended to fall somewhere between indifference and fondness. Neither superpower nor agitator. But now a seasoned, more confident Canada has begun to show an admirable ability to offend those who need offending.
Canada was founded by two nations, English and French, who spent a good part of this country’s formative years fighting. The continent was something of a sideshow, its colonists, resources and territories pawns in the perpetual European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. It has emerged a multicultural country with two official languages, navigating its own distinct challenges.
There’s an elephant next door, and every time it stirs Canadians look south—with measures of fascination, bemusement, trepidation, aggravation, appreciation and, by times, heartfelt concern. We’ve been looking a lot lately. With 10 times the population of Canada, the neighbour on the other side of the world’s longest undefended border has been intermittently enemy and friend, supporter and irritant, partner and antagonist—and the greatest outside influence on Canadian culture for at least the last 100 years.
Canada’s oldest and most fundamental relationships are with the First Nations, Inuit and Métis on whose lands the country was built. Thus far, those relationships could be termed abject failures. From the time that European explorers set foot on these shores, successive governments have been more enemy than friend to their first residents, writing a long, sad story of theft, deceit, kidnapping, abuse, broken promises, even cultural genocide.
Having fuelled the fires of Nazism and the Second World War, the punitive terms of surrender imposed on Germany after WW I served as an abject lesson in how not to treat a vanquished enemy. An unprecedented 75 million people were killed as a result of Axis aggression between 1939 and 1945. Yet, with the aid of their wiser vanquishers, the defeated aggressors emerged triumphant allies.
The latest technology revolution has fundamentally altered the dynamic of politics and international relations. Today, we live in a global society in which countries are more interdependent, populations are on the move, and communication is free flowing. The internet, digital tech and the space-based platforms they rely on have changed the nature of war—and the fragile peace we cherish.
© Canvet Publications Ltd.
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