[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by llama64

Canada is a nation that evolved from the inter-mingling of British, French and First Nations cultures. It is the world's premier example of cultural exchange and co-existence.

Sorry, I would put Canada nowhere near the top of the list for cultural exchange or co-existence. First-nations cultures have been so persecuted and marginalized that it might as well not exist to the average Canadian. In Brussels, I randomly met a woman in the laundromat and all she would talk to me about when she found out I was Canadian is how badly Canada treats it's first nations.

European integration in the EU is far ahead of us in terms of cultural exchange. There are other countries with dual official languages as well.

The RCMP have a tradition that is known throughout the world. It has it's routes in European nobility.

Sadly, it sometimes seems it is more famous for Dudley Doright and comedy skits involving Canadians rather than being any sort of a internationally renowned institution with any real historical prestige. As an institution, the RCMP is relatively young compared with those in old world western europe or asia. Many foreigners I talk to don't believe the RCMP actually exist a force and believe they are only ceremonial like the Buckingham Palace guards.

World War's 1 and 2. Discount Canada's involvement at your own degradation.

We were part of a multinational allied force, very much involved because of Canada's historical ties to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Canada certainly made many good contributions but in the rest of the world, many of the battles, victories, and tragedies that Canada seems to deem significant or that we celebrate are considered insignificant in the larger picture. I don't mean to demean the sacrifice of our Canadian soldiers, many of those battles did feature primarily Canadian forces, even if not acknowledged. Their sacrifices certainly made the difference in many situations and we had several firsts. My parents are first generation immigrants. At the time my relatives were fighting the Japanese invasion in Asia and some friends of mine here had their relatives imprisoned in the infamous WWII Internment Camps in Canada.

Lester B. Pearson and the notion of Peacekeepers. Read up on the Suez Crisis and learn something about Canada. Cyprus, Egypt, Rwanda, Bosnia, Afghanistan. Obviously Canadians aren't doing anything worthwhile on the world stage.

I am fully aware of Lester B. Pearson's contribution. The Suez crisis was part of the whole middle-east post-colonial political mess and it has much deeper and significant and long-lasting effects than anything that Canada's contribution could even compare to. The creation of a U.N. Peacekeeping Force was commendable, especially in the post WWII era when the U.N. was seen as a potent institution toward the preservation of global peace. In the long run however, many U.N. mandated peacekeeping missions have shown the true impotence of their agency and have been tarnished by many terrible wartime incidents and tragedies.

I am a very strong supporter of the Canadian armed forces despite what you seem to think, I believe the Afghan mission should continue as long as is possible. I don't see how any of this has anything to do with historical and cultural legacy. It's simply part of Canada's international and humanitarian duty.

The Shuttle arm. The CANDU reactor.

Yes... all of this, worthless.

If you are talking about technological innovation and contributions, certainly Canada has had many success stories and "brand" names we can claim rights to. Many Canadians worked on the manhattan project, we have a high standard of excellence in medical research, etc. But in comparison to the contributions of other countries, it pales considerable and there is nothing wrong with that, for a country our small size. These achievements are something to be proud of...but they are the achievements of select few corporations, some government programs, and individuals. I don't see what those things have anything to do with common cultural heritage that the average citizen can identify with although they could be stepping stones to future legacy. Canada is too young to have much to celebrate in perspective to history of western civilization and many other nations.

Stop drinking the Heritage Canada kool-aid and the Canadian history lessons given to you in highschool and look at it all in perspective. It's an excellent thing and natural to be proud of your country but I've always felt the amount of resources and pressure to create and believe in some sense of nationalism and historical idenity rarely succeeds with any gravitas for a country of our youth, size, and of our cultural mix. I happen to have a political science degree which is honestly pretty useless in day to day life and maybe this makes me jaded in my dim view of Canada "trying too hard" to forge an identity from less significant things by exaggerating their importance.