Canada… the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Canada has been a great country to many people, especially those that have immigrated to this country from a foreign place. This country has been a beacon of hope, prosperity and a sense of future for many that have come to this country or have been born and raised here in the great white north. This country of ours to me has been a relatively safe country with opportunities that we may not have had elsewhere, a place where freedom exists and a country that you are free to express your right without being prosecuted. Canada in the eyes of many has been a breath of fresh air, but to some possibly what you see isn’t necessarily what is projected.

In many cases Canada is l believe a place that offers you and your family an opportunity to continue to prosper without barriers that other nations may have restrictions that we here in this country can overcome. But Canada like any other free and democratic countries has its bad side and, in some cases, as we are discovering lately with the discovery of these child graves an ugly side to this great nation of ours called Canada. One may say that this country of ours as great as it may be, doesn’t go without its downsides where we truly have a good, bad and ugly side to the great white north better known as Canada.

Canada has had some ugly moments in its history, but none as gruesome as these children grave discoveries within the last six months. The remains of 215 children, some as young as three, were found buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school near Kamloops, British Columbia. For the second time in less than a month, a First Nations in Canada reported grim news…ground-penetrating radar had uncovered evidence of hundreds of unmarked graves near a former residential school for Indigenous children.

The two discoveries in British Columbia and Saskatchewan have left the country reeling. Many Canadians are renewing pleas to take down monuments to the leaders responsible for the school system and calling for more accountability and action from the federal government and the Catholic Church. Among the Indigenous communities that had long told stories about the children who went missing and their unmarked graves, there has been fury and anger. No one yet knows just how many children in total there were, but the discoveries in Kamloops, B.C., and Marieval are helping Canadians understand that the number is almost certainly orders of magnitude higher than initially documented.

We should put aside our ignorance and accidental racism of not addressing the truth that this country has had with Indigenous people. This country has also had some ugly moments with other communities including the Chinese and the Italians just to mention two other black spots on this country. After Italy declared war against Canada in 1940, the Government of Canada interned hundreds of people of Italian heritage. In addition, tens of thousands of Italian Canadians were declared enemy aliens, and faced pain, hardship, and discrimination. The government’s policy went against the fundamental values Canada was fighting for during the Second World War.

The Chinese community as well in this country has seen an ugly side of Canada reacting towards this community as a whole. Legalized discrimination, lower pay. Harsh working conditions, disenfranchisement and head taxes were some of the historic events that can be uncovered through the time that these two communities and possibly more have encountered over the history of this country.

Quebec one of our Canadian provinces has created in my option an ugly stain on this great nation and especially when the rest of the world takes note that one of its provinces wants to leave the union and be a country on its own…. The separation of Quebec has been an issue in this country for years where it created its own party to fight for its rights and possible existence in the Canadian House of Commons. The Bloc Quebecois, revitalized under leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, jumped to 32 seats from 10 seats in the predominantly French -speaking province. I bring this up because every 25 years or so there seems to be a fresh movement to separate, but this time l don’t believe that most Quebecers want to separate. However, this country has gone through some ugly times when it comes to our history with Quebec.

Canada has had some bad periods in history with a sprinkle of ugliness…. l can continue to pick out many more, but like all nations they all have a period in time where the good, the bad and the ugly have existed. With the July Canada Day holiday coming upon us and coming out of COVID-19 we have a great deal to be grateful for and the good things that this country offers.

The expression “Canada the Good” in retrospective is something that l would like to dwell upon and point out the good things that this nation has offered us and will continue to do so, but we still have to do our part and fight for these rights and privileges that many other nations never had and never will. Let me explain and point out why we live in a country that is worth fighting for and why we need to be a free nation.

Canada still gives you the freedom to be able to move freely throughout this country with the freedom of expression. There has been some small changing movement in North America, but the freedom to express your opinion still has a place in our democratic society. Canada is still a country of freedoms and because of this environment, you and your family have the opportunities to thieve in whatever you may want. This country basic foundation was founded on freedom and freedom of expression and worth fighting for, because you will not find this everywhere.

Canadian Charter of Rights

and Freedoms

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Here are some protections that the Charter guarantees….

• freedom of religion, of thought of expression, of the press and peaceful assembly
• the right to participate in political activities and the right to a democratic government
• the freedom to move around and live within Canada, and to leave Canada
• Legal rights such as the right to life, liberty and security
• equality rights
• language rights

When l reflect on Canada Day and l take a close retrospective look back about how l feel about this nation and what it has done for me and my family, l have nothing bad to say…. yes, there have been bad moments in the history of this dominion and there will be future challenges, but this country of ours is worth every minute fighting for it and its continued existence. Good, Bad or Ugly….

Vincent Black/MS