Loyalism or Patriotism?

With the encroachment from the American Empire over the last year, there has been greater conversations about Canadian sovereignty.

With that comes a closer look at the question of Canada itself. Who are we?

A precursory look at our history will reveal that we have never truly been a sovereign country. Here lies the paradox of “nationalism” in Canada.

It is important to note that upon confederation, Canada had the status of a Dominion of the British Empire, not that of an independent country.

The territories known as British North America were confederated into the British Dominion of Canada in 1867. This move by the British Empire was to consolidate territory and prevent the expansionism of the United States of America into the remaining colonies held in mainland North America.

The Dominions status is significant, despite the relative autonomy given to the Canadian parliament in governing domestic affairs, the foreign policy was still dictated by the British Empire. This included massive loss of Canadian life fighting in the foreign wars, “for King and Country,” such as in World War I.

While the recent remarks from President Trump on the annexation of Canada into the United States has led some to double-down on the historic inter-imperial rivalry between Britain and America, however, this has largely passed from being central to the political power games in North America.

Following World War II, the moribund British Empire collapsed into the nascent American Empire, signed off at the Breton Woods conference of 1944. As a result, the contemporary Britain of today is as much a vassal state, as is Canada, to the American Empire.

Still, there is a contingent on the Canadian Right who do believe they hold a patriotic position that the answer to the encroachment of American Empire is a retrenchment into the British Empire. Tragically, this is embracing a false binary that our country can only ever belong to one power or another.

Reverting back to the subordination paradigm from a past power which does not even exist in the same form — beyond the transnational framework of financial institutions that have long since moved their host country to America — is reaction in its most pitiful form.

This is most visible with some self-described “nationalists” who are brushing off the Red Ensign, an antiquated version of Canada’s flag, itself a variant of the Union Jack, a corporate banner delineating these beautiful lands we call home as nothing more than an economic zone, symbolizing a fealty to the British Empire, and the historic position of being “Canada Second.”

This is phenomena of retrenchment is underpinned by a feeling of false empowerment, advocated by groups like the Dominion Society of Canada, adopting a whitewashed history of our country that was never really about us living up to our full potential. This does not answer the question of our sovereignty, and is certainly not “Canada First.

Going from one iteration of “Canada Second” to another is nonsensible. Unless one possesses some kind of fetish for being dominated, we really cannot understand why anyone would equate dominion with freedom?

We cannot rely on “Daddy Britain” to come save the day. In fact, the inverse is true, historically, the British Crown drew on the fighting spirit of Canadians, a toughness forged in the cold wilderness here, to fight their battles for them…

Let us say that any fight going forward will be our own.