According to a group of senior civil servants in Ottawa, Canadians lack a “sense of common purpose.” Traditional unifying symbols and institutions – everything from the monarchy to hockey – are said to be losing their appeal, creating a national identity crisis.
Southam news service reported that the civil servants, members of a Privy Council Office policy committee, have prepared a draft report saying the country could disintegrate unless the federal government can provide a unifying vision.
Great stress was put on a survey that found, for example, that fewer than a fifth of Canadians considered the Queen a “very important” symbol of national identity and less than a third regarded the CBC as such a symbol.
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While that may dismay the bureaucrats, it’s unlikely to cause much alarm among ordinary Canadians, who have other priorities.
Rather than trying to develop more unifying symbols, governments would be better advised to pay attention to what the public is telling them about the reality behind those symbols.
The government’s own survey found that the medical care system is considered very important by almost 90 percent of Canadians. It should come as no surprise that people rank health care above bilingualism, the CBC, Canadian films, etc.
Canadians have made it abundantly clear that universal health care is one of their fundamental values. They do not believe that good medical care should be available only to the rich, or only to those who live in large cities.
The problem is not lack of symbols, but lack of content.
Health-care cutbacks by all levels of government have slashed rural health services and created long waiting lists at the remaining hospitals.
The spectacle of governments refusing to compensate people who were afflicted with hepatitis through tainted blood is also offensive to many. This is not Canadians’ image of themselves.
Just as Canadians believe in helping one another through medical care, they also believe in government help for victims of natural disaster.
There was overwhelming public support from all regions for aid given to victims of the Red River flood and eastern Canada’s ice storm.
Yet here too, governments can show a parsimonious streak. Crop failures in the Peace River area did not come in one sudden event, but they have had just as financially devastating an effect on some farms as more dramatic natural disasters. The federal government, however, continues to insist its rules don’t permit compensation.
Is this the type of Canada we want?
