It may be because of the content of a specific course that I am teaching this fall, but I have spent a fair amount of my spare time (spinning and in general playing with wool does give one time to think about other things) thinking about how important the stories we tell are in the shaping of our lives. Or at least the perception of our lives. I am reasonably sure that for most of us who tell stories for our profession (teachers must be story tellers at least part of the time) or those who just like talking about the things that have happened to us or the people that we know, the stories that we tell not only shape our lives but our lives shape the stories. We remember that which seems important to use – we forget those facts that are not. I think for most of us, the distortion of the facts to make either a better story or at least a story that fits our perception of the world is unintentional. I am not sure if the same can be said for some politicians.
The Canadian government has in the past week or two created two specific narratives that are designed to shape our perspectives of the world, or at least Canada’s place within in. I would not particularly mind this except that they have the facts wrong. And I think it is intentional. They are badly abusing history and most annoyingly they are making the assumption (once again) that we are too ignorant or lazy to correct the facts.
It was with great fanfare that the announcement was made that Canadian scientists and explorers had found, in the Arctic, remnants of one of John Franklin’s boats. Mr. Harper is on record as saying that by finding the boat, one of Canada’s greatest mysteries has been solved (CBC). Of course the narrative that he needs to shape is that because it is a Canadian story, therefore the waters that it was found in are Canadian. I find that logic absurd and would much rather have my tax dollars spent doing something that would benefit the residents of the far north. It is also not true. Franklin was not Canadian, he was British. In fact all of this happened 20 or so years before anyone was even discussing a nation called Canada. Franklin's ill fated (and ill considered) adventure was designed to find a way through the North-West Passage and thereby avoid Canada altogether. It should be noted that in spite of Mr Harper's claims about it being part of Canada's history, the British have not given up all claims to the ship.
It is a neat story and fun to follow, but for the vast majority of Canadians - I am quite sure it was not a mystery that they were all waiting to be solved. I do find it interesting that the ship was found in the same area as the Inuit elders said (and have been saying for decades) it would be found.
The second story that
is being told is the government sponsored info commercial/historical vignette
that is currently running on television (I can't find a link) that shows through a reenactment the Quebec Conference that created Canada way back in 1864. If ones only sense of history came from that little bit of theatre, it would be easy to believe that Canada came together by some magical process that included hard work and people who were committed to a unique concept . One would also belief that that the result of all of their efforts is that we are a wonderful country where we always win at hockey, we like watching the fireworks on Parliament Hill and by extension have morally always done the right thing. This story is being told in such a way that we are suppose to become excited about the government's plans to celebrate the 150th of the creation of Canada. While this may be a worthwhile pursuit, surely there is a better was of doing it than creating a false history. For example, according to a number of sources, including a recent edition of the Walrus the initial meeting could be at best be described as a fluke in which half of the participants were not originally invited and Confederation was not on the agenda.
I don't have a particular problem with the suggestion of celebrating Confederation. I think it was a pretty good idea and that we at least on occasion, are on the right path. But I strongly dislike the hype (and the attached fireworks - literally) that come with such propaganda. I dislike even more the government's attempt to create a narrative that is designed to make us feel all warm and fuzzy and I suspect to forget that we are becoming day by day a less caring country.
