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Beaver or bear? Fur flies over Canadian sense of identity | Beaver or bear? Fur flies over Canadian sense of identity |
(40 minutes later) | |
By Lorraine Mallinder Montreal, Canada | By Lorraine Mallinder Montreal, Canada |
The suggestion from a Canadian senator that Canada should replace its national emblem has sparked a national debate about what it means to be a Canadian in the 21st Century. | |
Beaver or polar bear? This is the stark choice Canadians face as they rethink how they want to present themselves to the rest of the world. | |
It all started when a Conservative Senator, Nicole Eaton, "dissed" the beaver, Canada's official emblem since the 1970s. | |
The "dentally-defective rat" - as she called it - was deemed yesterday's animal. | |
Cue lots of puns about "gnawing fears" and whether the nation should '"give a dam". The polar bear, she claimed, would better reflect the spirit of the nation. | |
The debate could be summed up as follows: The beaver, humble and industrious, represents Canada's colonial past, an era when hardy pioneers schlepped through the wilderness in search of fur for fashionable Europeans. | |
It was the relentless pursuit of beaver fur that drove Canada's early expansion. "A bygone era," cry detractors. Besides, as one columnist put it, Canadians are tired of being perceived as a nation of "apologetic fur trappers". | |
The polar bear, on the other hand, is a majestic creature. In the words of Canada's national anthem the defender of - "The True North, strong and free". | |
Despite its cuddly appearance, it is no cutie. Rather, a ruthless predator at the top of the food chain. One of life's winners. | |
"A bully," cries Team Beaver, though the earnest protests are drowned out by the roaring bears. | |
The debate has set fur flying across the country. | |
But, beneath the comedy, there are some serious undertones. Canada, for so long seen as a country of moderate beaver types, has actually been undergoing an identity makeover for a few years now. | |
Under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, many believe it is becoming a much harder place. | |
Witness the government's increased military spending. The staunch defence of the highly polluting tar sands industry. The reduced funding for arts programmes. The "super-prisons" proposed under tough new crime laws. The steely determination to defend and exploit the country's Arctic territory - the polar bear poised to see off Russian interlopers. | |
The change of tone is reflected in the media landscape. Three quarters of the country's newspapers endorsed the Conservatives in this year's federal election. | |
This year also saw the launch of the Sun News Network, a tough-talking television channel with the self-professed aim of combating the political-correctness of the so-called "lame-stream media". | |
Everyone knew they referred to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), the nation's public broadcaster, often derided as a hotbed of bleeding heart liberals. | |
But even the CBC itself is shriller than it used to be. The network's leading hockey commentator was recently the subject of a national scandal when he called players a "bunch of pukes" for speaking out against violence in the game. | |
And, one pugnacious TV presenter raised eyebrows when he called a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist a "left-wing nutbar" for his views on Occupy Wall Street. | |
Not very Canadian, all this. | |
Free thinking | |
But what does being Canadian mean? | |
To find the answer, it might be worth going back to the era of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. | |
First elected in the late 1960s, the country's long-serving prime minister led idealistic campaigns for world peace and nuclear disarmament, dropped in on John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their Montreal bed-in and was friendly with Fidel Castro. | |
Charismatic and unconventional, he was once photographed pirouetting in Buckingham Palace as other guests greeted Queen Elizabeth. | |
Trudeau may not have been a typical Canadian, yet people believe he represented the best of Canada. | |
Perhaps more importantly, he was a free thinker whose policies were often at odds with those of Canada's southern neighbour. | |
Ah, the USA. It cannot be easy having such a big, powerful country next door. Particularly one represented by a bird of prey. Eagles eat beavers for breakfast. | |
Little wonder so many Canadians are turning to the polar bear. They are fed up with being seen as a poor man's America, a nation of people who apologise when bumped into. It is enough to make you turn passive aggressive, which Canadians are often accused of being, by the way. | |
But, in retiring the beaver, would the country not risk losing the very qualities that make it unique? | |
Canada may not be the most assertive of nations, but it is appreciated for its quiet virtues - its sense of fair play, its ability to compromise, its open-mindedness and its generosity. | |
In a world of eagles, bears, dragons and other fearsome beasts, surely we need more, not less, of the beaver. | |
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