COLUMN: Think Again – It’s time for some Canadian patriotism

Canada will never be the 51st state no matter how many times Donald Trump might claim otherwise.

Every major political party leader has made this point abundantly clear. One of the few things that Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre, and Jagmeet Singh agree on is that they have no interest in Canada joining the United States. That is a good thing.

Of course, the main reason Trump keeps talking about Canada becoming the 51st state is because he holds Trudeau in contempt and knows that the Liberal government is teetering on the brink. A classic negotiating tactic is to hit your opponent when they are at their weakest point and Justin Trudeau has never been weaker than he is right now.

This is why we cannot rely on Trudeau to defend the honour of our country. All Canadians, regardless of political stripe, must stand up and make it clear that we believe in Canada’s future as a strong independent nation.

However, standing up for our future becomes a lot easier when we take pride in our past. This is an area where Trudeau and other woke ideologues have done incalculable damage. Instead of denigrating our country as a genocidal state and issuing ad nauseum public apologies for mistakes made by previous governments, our prime minister should be Canada’s greatest cheerleader.

This means taking pride in our history and in the leaders who made Canada into the nation it is today. For example, last week was the 210-year anniversary of the birth of Sir John A. Macdonald, our first prime minister. While Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre put out a statement on social media commemorating Macdonald, Trudeau was notably silent.

Sadly, over his nine years in office, Trudeau has done everything he can to erase the memory of our first prime minister. This is a travesty since without Macdonald’s foresight and his ability to bring different groups together, Canada would likely not exist today. While Macdonald was obviously an imperfect man and a product of his times, he was also a visionary who played a key role in the negotiations that led to Confederation in 1867.

Thus, it is more than appropriate to commemorate Macdonald by naming buildings after him and erecting statues in his honour. If we cannot take pride in the accomplishments of our first prime minister, then we risk undermining the foundations of our country.

In addition, there is much we can be proud of as a country. For example, Canada punched above its weight in both World Wars. When there was a tough battle that needed to be fought, it was often the Canadians who were sent in. The successful capture of Vimy Ridge in 1917 is a case in point.

We can also take pride in the many medical and scientific developments that took place thanks to the hard work done by Canadians. From the discovery of insulin by Dr. Fredick Banting to the creation of time zones by Sanford Fleming to the invention of the egg carton by Joseph Coyle, Canadians have changed our world for the better.

All Canadians can also take great pride in Terry Fox’s heroic Marathon of Hope in 1980. While Fox died before he was able to finish his run across Canada, Fox’s efforts led to millions of dollars being raised for cancer research. Every year, schoolchildren across Canada continue to participate in the Terry Fox Run—and so they should.

There is much more that unites Canadians than divides us. While we are an imperfect nation, we have every reason to be proud to be Canadian.

It’s time for some Canadian patriotism.

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.