OH CANADA: Rants & Raves of a Canadian Patriot

"I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind." - John D Diefenbaker - July 1, 1960. From the Canadian Bill of Rights.

I'm an aging Boomer and I've voted in EVERY election since I came of age.  I grew up with John Diefenbaker as a personal hero (along with Sam Steele of the Mounted, Sir Charles G D Roberts, Jack London, Grey Owl, Eddie Shack and Farley Mowat). 

I've voted for the Reverend Tommy Douglas, Trudeau, Stanfield and Mulroony (the first Mulroony election). I disagreed with Free Trade and voted for Chretien, who promised to renegotiate the Free Tade Deal -- should have known that the original champions of Reciprocity were lying.  Sir John A MacDonald was right: Free Trade is "veiled treason." 

And the unveiled traitors gather in the spoils.

While the average working family has been unfreely traded into hard times.

So the Party of Sir John has a majority (or is it the Party of Preston Manning?).

Prime Minister Stephen Joseph Harper promised to implement his plans for "creating jobs and growth without increasing taxes -- immediate help for families and seniors -- and eliminating the deficit while maintaining health-care transfers to provinces and territories."  As Mr Harper said, we Canadians "chose hope, unity of purpose and a strong Canada. We can now begin to come together."

OK -- so the party of the Rev Tommy formed Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.  A good thing, right?  Well, we already have a New Democratic Party gov here in Nova Scotia.  When I asked our local NDP MLA (whose identity will be kept anonymous), "Sterling, I couldn't get Worthless Comp to answer my phone calls and letters about my claim, can you help?" our anonymous MLA told me that his hands were tied.  That when the NDP provincial gov was first elected, the public service unions approached them and told them to "leave our people alone -- do not interfere with them." 

No wonder the NS Worthless Comp is in full Asshole Mode.  (And I won't even get started on the lowlifes at the Man-You-Laugh Insurance Company!)

I hired a lawyer.

Concluding rant:

I don't expect a change of politicians to be of much benefit to the working man and woman.  Just different snouts in the trough.

I'm old enough to know that the Good Guys have faded into history.

Even Sam Steele ("The greatest Commissioner the Mounties never had." - Pierre Berton) was fired by the corrupt Laurier gov for fighting political and commercial corruption in the Klondike by the sons of the Eastern establishment...

The most essential element in building (and keeping) a Free Society (aka Democracy) is the division of power.  For instance, there was a time when the Church was so powerful in Western society that if you were being pusued by the King's men -- you could enter any building on Consecrated Ground and claim Sanctuary.  Perhaps we citizens of the Dominion of Canada (which was founded as a Nation under God) need a return to spiritual times...

"Here's to democracy.  May we get the government we deserve."  - Rick Mercer 

WHAT IS THE CANADIAN NATIONAL ANIMAL?  THE POLAR BEAR!

"The polar bear, with its strength, courage, resourcefulness, and dignity is perfect for the part," Nicole Eaton said recently, when suggesting a rebranding of Canada's national animal. 

Referring to the polar bear's "strength, courage, resourcefulness and dignity," the lawmaker called it "Canada's most majestic and splendid mammal, holding reign over the Arctic for thousands of years."

I'm with Nicole on this one.

She's drawn some fire referring to the industrious beaver as a "rat -- a big rat, that doesn't reflect our new values.  A dentally defective rat ... a nuisance that wreaks havoc on farmlands, roads, lakes, streams and tree plantations," but this just reflects her marvelous sense of humour.  Nicole Eaton is well aware of the critical role the beaver plays in the ecology of green lands.  She's well aware that the eager beaver faced extinction in the middle of the last century -- a tragedy averted in part by the popular writings of Grey Owl.

But you must remember that Canadians didn't pick the beaver as our national symbol in the first place.  The Hudson's Bay Company did.  The London-based HBC made its fortune on the furs and skins harvested in colonial Canada, including the rich beaver pelts that were shipped to England to be made into fashionable beaver hats for the well-heeled gentlemen of the age.  Beavers weren't cute, industrious and ecologically essential creatures to the trappers and businessmen of the day; they were product.  As an image, the Beaver was really a symbol of corporate greed.

But the Polar Bear...  "The polar bear is the world’s largest terrestrial carnivore and Canada’s most majestic and splendid mammal," Nicole explained, saying it "survives in the harshest climate and terrain in the world."

Right on!

We need a National Totem.

An animal that reflects the Canadian soul.

Just as the loon can be thought of as our national bird (what is more Canadian than the lonely sound of a loon's call across a forest-rimmed lake?) so the polar bear reflects our strength and beauty -- and perhaps our own endangerment as a culture -- as the failed Free Trade agreement allows more and more replacement of our own culture and history by foreign cultures that have little meaning to us.  If it wasn't for the sacred Game of Hockey and for CBC programming, we'd have no culture left at all. 

Remember what I've already said.  "Ask any Canadian who Wyatt Earp was -- now ask them who Sam Steele was."

Or -- Ask any Canadian who Mark Twain was -- now ask them who Charles G D Roberts was.  (Both were popular writers published in The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine during the 1880's and '90's.  Roberts was the New Brunswick writer who became our first major poet and short story writer -- and created the uniquely Canadian literary form, the Realistic Animal Story.  In 1935, Roberts received a knighthood from King George V for being the Father of Canadian Literature.)

Here's how it's going to play out, my friend: if we continue to be little industrious beavers, we'll be taken over.  But if we call the Polar Bear our Sacred Totem and draw on it's magnificant power... 

Where's your Petition, Nicole?  I'm signing it!

A Canadian was walking down the street with a case of beer under his arm. His friend, Doug, stopped him and asked, "Hey Bob! What ya get the case of beer for?"

"I got it for my wife, eh?" answered Bob.

"Oh!" exclaimed Doug, "Good trade."

After being denied disability coverage by his workplace medical insurance company, a fishplant worker limped into a tavern next door to the Insurance Company offices for a much-needed drink.

He had hardly pulled himself into the crowded room when he had to let it all out.  Leaning on his crutches, he shouted, "I thinks all Man-You-Laugh Insurance case workers are depraved, back-stabbing, deceitful crooks!"

A tough looking man jumped off a bar stool and confronted the angry worker, saying, "You take that back!"

The worker had had his fill of being the nice guy.  "Why," he asked the tough guy, "Are you a Man-You-Laugh Insurance arsehole?"

"No, " the other man shouted.  "I'm a crook!"

The other day an Englishman, an American, and a Canadian walked into the tavern together. They each ordered a pint of Molson Canadian. Just as they were about to enjoy their cold ones, flies landed in each of their pints.

The Englishman pushed his beer away from him in disgust.

The American fished the offending fly out of his beer and continued drinking it as if nothing had happened.

The Canadian picked the fly out of his drink and started shaking it over the pint, yelling, "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT, YOU LITTLE HAIRY THIEF!!!!"

"Remember -- I'm pullin' for you. We're all in this together." - Red Green

Address on the nation's business, June 30, 1960 -- The Right Honourable John J Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada

My fellow Canadians,

Tomorrow is Dominion Day, the ninety-third anniversary of the farsighted decision of our forefathers, taking their inspiration from the 72nd Psalm, to create here "a Dominion from Sea to Sea".

On this anniversary Canadians will renew their faith in our beloved Canada. The House of Commons will be in session part of the day and the significance of the occasion will be noted by your representatives there. All across the country, Canadians both young and old will honour the Queen and our country by repeating once again the stirring words: "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

All my life I have striven to see Canadians from coast to coast united as "One Canada" without in any way departing from the historic and constitutional rights of the two great basic races. More and more that dream is coming true.

In the spirit of the words of "O Canada", it will be my privilege to rise in my place in the House of Commons tomorrow and introduce a Bill of Rights for Canadians. I am sure you will agree with me that the day and the spirit of the day will be highly appropriate for this.

So this evening, on the eve of our great national holiday, I ask you to consider for a few moments with me the reasons why I believe that the introduction of this new Bill represents one more great milestone of the spiritual things of Freedom to make them more secure.

Standing on guard for Canada means many things. We think first, perhaps, of the great problem of national defence against the threat of aggression from abroad.

We must maintain our Defences  --  protect ourselves against the possibility of attack  --  and press on for disarmament.

Canadians want to live in peace. Your Government, recognizes that to attain peace disarmament is necessary in this age of fear and uncertainty. The action of the USSR earlier this week, and the Communist nations associated with them, in summarily withdrawing from the Ten-Power Meeting in Geneva is disheartening and discouraging, if not dismaying to all peace-loving peoples who had built up hopes that mankind was entering a new era. The Honourable Howard Green, Secretary of State for External Affairs, has been a leader in the crusade for disarmament and will continue in that course whatever the disappointments.

We must vigilantly stand on guard within our own borders for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are our proud heritage. The experiences of many countries whose citizens have flocked to our shores in recent years  --  and ours too  --  make it clear that we cannot take for granted the continuance and maintenance of those rights and freedoms. Those who have lived in countries in which human dignity has been denied know how closely the assertion of these rights is linked with the struggle for peace among mankind.

Indeed, the fundamental difference between countries of the Free and the Communist worlds lies in this very matter of human rights and human dignity. Our half of the world believes that the individual has fundamental rights which must never be made subservient to government. The other half believes in the all-powerful state in which fundamental individual rights can be denied at will.

Thirteen years ago in the House of Commons I quoted, in this connection, words which are even truer today than they were then. They were spoken by Mr. J. T. Shotwell as President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This is what he said:

The effort to safeguard human rights is, in my opinion, the most fundamental of all international movements today, and also the most difficult to achieve .... The menace of war cannot be removed from human affairs so long as life and liberty are imperiled by arbitrary power.

It is with this same thought in mind that not long ago I proposed the establishment of a Court of International Rights to have jurisdiction and authority to adjudicate on all violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms everywhere in the world.

We are a people deriving our basic institutions from Britain and France, the two nations which have stood in the front line of most of the great battles for human liberty. The Barons of England who won Magna Carta from King John were "Frenchmen, each and every one of whom has the French language as his mother tongue" . Our passion for freedom we derive as well from many other countries whose people have written noble pages in the ageless story of freedom.

Tomorrow I shall be introducing our new Bill of Rights in our own Parliament. The Bill was introduced at earlier sessions of this Parliament and set over so that representations could be received by the Government from interested organizations and individuals in Canada.

The Bill contains some additions resulting from these representations, the general effect of which is to strengthen the guarantee of individual rights and freedoms.

My own belief that we should have a Canadian Bill of Rights goes back to my student days. I know that I will not be misunderstood if I say that my own personal satisfaction will be very great when and if the Parliament of Canada, in its wisdom, decides to pass this Bill and incorporate it into our statute books.

It is a measure with respect to which, from 1942 onward, I have spoken in the House of Commons from time to time and in support of which I have moved resolutions on a number of occasions. In 1952, in introducing a resolution for a Bill of Rights, I said:

The hallmark of freedom is a recognition of the sacred personality of man, and its acceptance decries discrimination on the basis of race, or creed or colour. Canadians have a message to give to the world. We are composed of many racial groups, each of which must realize that only by forbearance and mutual respect, only by denial of antagonism or prejudice based on race, or creed, or even surname, can breaches in unity be avoided in our country. National unity in Canada is not only an ideal  --  it is a necessity  --  based on ordinary common sense.

There are, of course, those who say that the Bill in its present form does not go far enough  --  that it should be a constitutional amendment binding on Parliament and the Legislatures. To do this would require the consent of all the provinces, and that is not attainable as yet. This Bill will, however, cover all matters within the jurisdiction of the Federal Parliament.

Legislation cannot do everything, but I am sure that few Canadians will deny that this is not only a first step in the right direction, but a very important first step and one that will take its place among the outstanding achievements for the maintenance and preservation of human liberty in Canada. Of even the great Magna Carta, one of the most illustrious historians, Professor George M. Trevelyan, has said:

It was a very short step, but it was the first, and it is the first step that counts .... It was the abstract and general character of the event at Runnymede that made it a great influence in history.

What will a Canadian Bill of Rights do? It will declare that the following rights and freedoms are in existence and that no Act of the Parliament of Canada in the past or in the future (subject to the security demands of war) shall be permitted to interfere with them:

• The right of the individual to life, liberty, security of person and enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law;
• The right of the individual to protection of the law without discrimination by reason of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex;
• Freedom of religion;
• Freedom of speech;
• Freedom of the press.

It will declare the principle that every individual, whatever his colour, race or religion, shall be free from discrimination and will have guaranteed equality under the law. This is so important today, for wherever discrimination exists in the world there you have a seed-bed for Communism.

As I said in the House of Commons on past occasions, it will be a contract between the individuals of Canada and the Government of Canada. It will assert the right of the individual and the right of a minority to be protected in the exercise of its rights against the majority. It will, above all, assure that each of us will have a legal right to be heard in the courts of this country.

It will make Parliament freedom-conscious. It will make Parliament realize that rights are to be preserved. It will make Parliament more cautious in passing laws that would have the effect of interfering with freedom. It will act as a landmark by means of which Canadians through Parliament will have re-declared those spiritual things which have made Canada great; it will preserve the spiritual wells in legislative form without which freedom cannot survive. It will give to Canadians the realization that wherever a Canadian may live, whatever his race, his religion or his colour, the Parliament of Canada will be jealous of his rights and will not infringe upon those rights.

Henceforth, Canadians will know that their rights are not to be loosely disregarded and Parliament will have before it at all times the warning which is emphasized in this Bill of Rights, namely, that fundamental rights and freedoms, strictly within the federal jurisdiction, shall not be infringed by this or future Parliaments.

There can be no doubt that this Act, when passed, will greatly strengthen the hand of the Courts in respect to all the rights of Canadian citizenship. I believe that it goes as far as it is possible for Parliament to go under the Constitution.

I want to make it clear that we would favour any measure that would increase or extend the effectiveness of a Canadian Bill of Rights when and if agreement can be reached with all the provinces. We would certainly sympathetically consider the suggestion of making it part of the Constitution when the provinces agree, and will at all times welcome any representations from the provinces in this regard.

For the moment, I believe that you will support the step we have taken and that you will work with us to make it effective, both as individuals and as members of many organizations who are interested in this subject. I recall the opposition that I met with over the many years of my advocacy of this Bill. Its principle appears to have such widespread endorsation today. As one who, time and again, opposed what I considered to be unnecessary encroachments on our freedoms, I can tell you that such encroachments are nowhere in evidence today.

I thank all of you who have helped with your suggestions in the many helpful letters that you have written to me. Many thousands of Canadians have had a part in this achievement by which Dominion Day, 1960, will be long remembered.

"O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

"God Save our Gracious Queen".

The I AM CANADIAN Rant

OK, Canada -- now hoist a Molson's Canadian to celebrate!  Here's to the beer that's as clean, crisp, and fresh as the country it came from -- Canada!

And support Team Canada in the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship, which takes place in Calgary and Edmonton. 

Officially called The International Ice Hockey Federation World Under 20 Championship, the IIHF Juniors are without a doubt the best annual hockey series, second only to the every-four-years Olympic Hockey.

GO CANADA -- GO!

GOD'S COUNTRY: Our Country, Our Entertainers, Our Culture - and Our Hockey Champions! 

>> MONTREAL CANADIENS: The REAL Stanley Cup Champions of 2010 - and Why!

In 1892, the then Governor General of Canada, Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley, dedicated a Silver Bowl to the people of the Dominion of Canada for, "the champion hockey team in the Dominion."

The Stanley Cup became the ultimate prize for Canadian hockey teams, awarded first in 1893 to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). The cup has been won every year since (except 2005 - the Black Year of the Lockout - when the NHL refused to release the Cup to another Canadian League).

In 1919, the Stanley Cup Champions, Montreal Canadiens, traveled to Seattle to play a post-Championship exhibition series with the Seattle Metropolitans. The series was cancelled because of the Great Influenza Epidemic. The Americans still like to refer to 1919 as "no decision."

In 1926, the National Hockey League "adopted" Lord Stanley's Cup as their own and have possessed it up to this writing.

Not every Canadian agrees with this "adoption" or the teams that have been proclaimed champions.

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In an article in The Lawyers Weekly entitled "Does the Stanley Cup belong to the NHL or the Canadian people?" Tim Gilbert wrote, "If the Stanley Cup is not a charitable purpose trust, then the trust fails and the property reverts to the grantor, and outside the control of the NHL. As Lord Stanley was Governor General when he gave the cup, the cup may revert back to the Office of the Governor General. In this way the cup may truly belong to the people of Canada." Go to lawersweekly.ca to read the full article...

What it comes down to is this: Lord Stanley, the16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of the Dominion of Canada, at his own expense, gave to us his "challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion."

Which means that Lord Stanley's Silver Bowl belongs to the last Canadian Team standing at the end of the Regular or Post Season!

There is no way around that.

Therefore, the Stanley Cup Champions for 2010 were the Montreal Canadiens!

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And it follows that the "official" record books are wrong. Since only teams from the Dominion of Canada can be awarded Lord Frederick's Cup, the Real Champions aren't always recognized.

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Who then, are the REAL Lord Stanley's Champions? Which, from the original Montreal AAA in 1893 to 2011's Vancouver Canucks, was the LAST CANADIAN TEAM STANDING each year?

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1893 - Montreal AAA

1894 - Montreal AAA

1895 - Montreal Victorias

1896 - Winnipeg Victorias

1897 - Montreal Victorias

1998 - Montreal Victorias

1899 - Montreal Shamrocks

1900 - Montreal Shamrocks

1901 - Winnipeg Victorias

1902 - Winnipeg Victorias

1903 - Montreal AAA

1904 - Ottawa Senators

1905 - Ottawa Senators

1906 - Ottawa Senators

1907 - Kenora Thistles

1908 - Montreal Wanderers

1909 - Ottawa Senators

1910 - Montreal Wanderers

1911 - Ottawa Senators

1912 - Quebec Bulldogs

1913 - Quebec Bulldogs

1914 - Toronto Blueshirts

1915 - Vancouver Millionaires

1916 - Montreal Canadiens

1917 - Montreal Canadiens

1918 - Toronto Arenas

1919 - Montreal Canadiens

1920 - Ottawa Senators

1921 - Ottawa Senators

1922 - Toronto St. Pats

1923 - Ottawa Senators

1924 - Montreal Canadiens

1925 - Victoria Cougars

1926 - Montreal Maroons

1927 - Ottawa Senators

1928 - Montreal Maroons

1929 - Montreal Canadiens

1930 - Montreal Canadiens

1931 - Montreal Canadiens

1932 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1933 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1934 - Montreal Maroons

1935 - Montreal Maroons

1936 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1037 - Montreal Canadiens

1938 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1939 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1940 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1941 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1942 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1943 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1944 - Montreal Canadiens

1945 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1946 - Montreal Canadiens

1947 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1948 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1949 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1950 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1951 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1952 - Montreal Canadiens

1953 - Montreal Canadiens

1954 - Montreal Canadiens

1955 - Montreal Canadiens

1956 - Montreal Canadiens

1957 - Montreal Canadiens

1958 - Montreal Canadiens

1959 - Montreal Canadiens

1960 - Montreal Canadiens

1961 - Montreal Canadiens

1962 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1963 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1964 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1965 - Montreal Canadiens

1966 - Montreal Canadiens

1967 - Toronto Maple Leafs

1968 - Montreal Canadiens

1969 - Montreal Canadiens

1970 - Montreal Canadiens

1971 - Montreal Canadiens

1972 - Montreal Canadiens

1973 - Montreal Canadiens

1974 - Montreal Canadiens

1975 - Montreal Canadiens

1976 - Montreal Canadiens

1977 - Montreal Canadiens

1978 - Montreal Canadiens

1979 - Montreal Canadiens

1980 - Montreal Canadiens

1981 - Calgary Flames

1982 - Vancouver Canucks

1983 - Edmonton Oilers

1984 - Edmonton Oilers

1985 - Edmonton Oilers

1986 - Montreal Canadiens

1987 - Edmonton Oilers

1988 - Edmonton Oilers

1989 - Calgary Flames

1990 - Edmonton Oilers

1991 - Edmonton Oilers

1992 - Edmonton Oilers

1993 - Montreal Canadiens

1994 - Vancouver Canucks

1995 - Vancouver Canucks

1996 - Montreal Canadiens

1997 - Edmonton Oilers

1998 - Ottawa Senators

1999 - Toronto Maple Leafs

2000 - Toronto Maple Leafs

2001 - Toronto Maple Leafs

2003 - Ottawa Senators

2004 - Calgary Flames

2005 - (Lockout)

2006 - Edmonton Oilers

2007 - Ottawa Senators

2008 - Montreal Canadiens

2009 - Vancouver Canucks

2010 - Montreal Canadiens

2011 - Vancouver Canucks

Concluding Rant:

Since Lord Stanley gave his Cup to be held by "the champion hockey team in the Dominion," it's not the right of anyone but a True Canadian team to be awarded it.

Perhaps the Right Honourable Stephen Harper can step in. Prime Minister Harper has proven himself to be a man of vision, honour and a true patriot - as well as an expert on Hockey History. Shouldn't the Stanley Cup be put back in the care of the Governor General's office?

Since when was Expansion and Selling Out The Game In The States a "Good thing for Hockey in Canada?"

>>> BEING CANADIAN -- All About Canada and Her Culture

"Canadian and American Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.

"Those whom nature has so joined together, let no man put asunder." -President John F Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan 20, 1961.

"The grass in Canada is not stained with blood." -Sitting Bull

Canada is proud of its heritage. From the early days of the North-West Mounted Police -- the Mounties -- to today's technological society, we have it all.

American author James Oliver Curwood was a bestseller in the early 20th Century.  He wrote extensively of the Canadian Northwest, calling Canada "God's Country" -- drawing on the English meaning of the Cree word "Manitoba" ("Land of the Great Spirit") -- and used that phrase in several of his popular short stories and novels.  Many of those stories were adapted into popular Hollywood silent movies.  Gradually, the phrase began to be used generally to mean any beloved homeland. 

The Mackenzie Brothers called us "The Great White North."

Whether THE GREAT NORTHWOODS of sled dogs and eternal snows -- which still exists -- or the modern, clean, crime-free streets of today's cities -- Canada has become the Place to escape to!  (Well -- some would argue that those streets are no longer crime free -- due to people who have escaped to Canada with no love or gratitude for the Great Nation that accepted them!)

Canadian, Eh? -- Our Comedians, Entertainers and Heroes:

Comedy is sacred to Canadians.

Mack Sennet, born in Richmond, Ontario, was Hollywood's first King of Comedy -- he created the Keystone Cops (His American business partners said, "You can't make fun of policemen!" but he did anyway.)   Mack also gave us Slapstick comedy -- the Custard Pie in the Face and discovered Charlie Chaplin.

Above all elese, we have always needed our comedians.

Modern times have seen Rich Little, Wayne & Shuster, SCTV, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, John Candy, Martin Short, Saturday Night Live's Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, Mike MacDonald, Mike Myers, Seth Rogen, Rick Mercer and Russel Peters. The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a Canadian institution.  And the Kids in the Hall.  This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Perhaps Red Green (Steve Smith) states the Canadian Philosophy best when he says, "Remember -- I'm pullin' for you. We're all in this together."

Canada has produced many famous entertainers: Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart," was born in Toronto. She was followed by Fay Wray, Raymond Massey, Lorne Greene, Christopher Plummer, William Shatner, James "Scotty" Doohan, Donald Sutherland, Michael J Fox, Paul Gross, Matthew Perry, Keanu Reeves -- Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, Hank Snow, Paul Anka, Robert Goulet, Bobby Curtola, Leonard Cohen, Anne Murray, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morriset, Avril Lavigne, the Guess Who, the Band, the Bare Naked Ladies, Nickleback, K-OS, K'naan, Hedley...

Authors -- such as Lucy Maude Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Sir Charles G D Roberts (creator of the realistic animal story), Ralph Connor, Thomas H. Raddall, W.O. Mitchell, Robertson Davies, Mordecai Richler, Rudy Wiebe, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Farley Mowat, Alice Monroe, Douglas Coupland, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alistair MacLeod, William Gibson...

Recently, millions of Canadians voted for the GREATEST CANADIAN. Those nominated were Sir John A MacDonald, Father of Canadian Confederation -- Wayne Gretzky, the world's best known hockey player -- Don Cherry, Hockey player and coach, who reminded us of "The Canadian Way" -- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone -- Dr Frederick Banting, discoverer of Insulin -- David Suzuki, Geneticist, environmentalist, broadcaster, activist -- Pierre Trudeau, who added passion and individualism to the Prime Minister's office -- Prime Minister Lester B Pearson, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the U.N. Peacekeeping Force -- Terry Fox, Marathon of Hope runner -- and...

And the winner was... the Rev. Tommy Douglas, Father of Medicare!

MEDICARE -- The Canadian Universal Health Care Program:

Under Medicare, every Canadian citizen is entitled to free doctor's care, Outpatient and Hospital care, minor and major surgery, and much more. Canada's national health-insurance program is designed to ensure that every resident of Canada receives medical care and hospital treatment, the cost of which is paid through general taxes. The Atlantic province of New Brunswick has pioneered a "hospital without walls" program -- treatments that once required patients to be admitted to hospitals are provided in day-surgery units or out-patient clinics, reducing the need for hospital beds.

Canada's free Medicare System has been praised by the World Health Association as the best in the world.

Confederation

On July 1, 1867, the provinces we now know as Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined together to create the new country: The Dominion of Canada. It was the passionate idea of a man named John A MacDonald, the "Father of Confederation." Confederation was made official by the British North America Act of 1867.

As time passed, other provinces and territories -- Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Prince Edward island, and Newfoundland -- joined Confederation and became part of Canada. In 1873, Prime Minister John A MacDonald created the North-West Mounted Police to bring Law and Order to the lawless West and Yukon Territory. The Mounties were in place when Sitting Bull lead his Sioux into asylum in Canada, seeking refugee status for his people. The Mounties kept the peace. To bind the new Dominion together, MacDonald built the Canadian Pacific Railroad, which stretched from Nova Scotia on the Atlantic to British Columbia on the Pacific.

The Maple Leaf

The maple leaf is a popular symbol of Canada. It was used as an unofficial symbol of Canada as early as 1700. It is on the penny, our one-cent coin, where its design has hardly changed since 1937.

Since February 15, 1965, a red maple leaf has been on the official national flag of Canada (at that time the Maple Leaf Flag replaced the Union Jack). The Maple Leaf has become our most prominent symbol.

Canada Day

Each year on July 1, we celebrate Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day, the anniversary of Confederation.

The Canadian National Anthem:

O Canada

O Canada! Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command

With glowing hearts we see thee rise The true North strong and free!

From far and wide, O Canada We stand on guard for thee

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

SING IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

And -- Support Our Troops!

The RCMP, Canada's Famous Law Organization

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) (French Gendarmerie Royale du Canada [GRC], literally Royal Gendarmerie of Canada; colloquially known as Mounties, and internally as The Force) is the federal, national, and paramilitary police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized forces in the world. With an on-strength establishment of 24,578 personnel, as of January 1, 2007, it is also the largest police force in Canada.

The RCMP was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, founded 1873) with the Dominion Police (founded 1868). The former was originally named the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), and was given the Royal prefix by King Edward VII in 1904.

Much of the present-day organization's symbology has been inherited from its days as the NWMP, including the distinctive Red Serge uniform, paramilitary heritage, and mythos as a frontier force. The RCMP/GRC wording is specfically protected under the Trade-marks Act.

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The Original Force - The North-West Mounted Police

The NWMP's main task between 1874-85 was to establish and maintain amicable relations with the native peoples of the Northwest Territories. One of the Canadian Government's main concerns during this period was to avoid the American experience of frontier wars. Fortunately, the Canadian situation was different from that below the border. Miners and settlers had still not arrived in the Canadian west in sufficient numbers to challenge the warlike tribes for their hunting lands.

By the time substantial settlement did get underway on the Canadian prairies, the Indians' way of life had already changed dramatically, with the rapid disappearance of the buffalo herds. In the Spring of 1876, hostilities between the American Sioux and the United States Army made Canadian authorities anxious to peacefully acquire title to most of the territory held by the Saskatchewan First Nations and the Blackfoot Confederacy. In the same year, Treaty No. 6 was concluded between the Canadian Government and the Cree and Assiniboine.

The Crees and Assiniboine surrendered their title to 120,000 square miles of central Saskatchewan and Alberta by agreeing to this treaty. The presence of the NWMP in their scarlet tunics played an important calming role in the negotiations of Treaty No. 6.

In September 1877, at Blackfoot Crossing on the Bow River, tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy met with the two Canadian commissioners appointed to treaty with them: the Honourable David Laird, Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories; and Commissioner J.F. Macleod of the North-West Mounted Police.

The bond of trust which had developed between Commissioner Macleod and the two most prominent Indian Chiefs, Crowfoot and Red Crow, was the key to the successful signing of Treaty No. 7.

In accepting the "Blackfoot Treaty," Crowfoot said: "The advice given me and my people has proven to be very good. If the police had not come to this country, where would we all be now? Bad men and whiskey were killing us so fast that very few of us would have been left today. The Mounted Police have protected us as the feathers of the bird protect it from the frosts of winter."

On September 22, amid pomp and ceremony, the Chiefs of the Blackfoot Confederacy signed Treaty No. 7, surrendering their title to what is today Southern Alberta. At last, the way was clear for plains' settlement and the building of a transcontinental railway which Canadians hoped would bring a new and prosperous future to their young nation.

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The Klondike Gold Rush

The original North-West Mounted Police had already established themselves as national heroes, both in fact and in fiction, when their exploits in the Klondike Gold Rush had made them world famous.

The Klondike, in the "Yukon," is still a famous tourist spot. The name "Yukon Territory" may also be used, although this usage is disputed by residents of the territory. The federal government's most recent update of the Yukon Act in 2003 confirmed Yukon, rather than Yukon Territory, as the current usage standard...

In 1896, three prospectors struck it rich in the Yukon. George Carmack, Skookum Jim, and Dawson Charlie found a rich deposit of gold in Bonanza Creek. This discovery inspired thousands of would-be prospectors to head north and turned Dawson City into the largest city west of Winnipeg by the turn of the century. It was during this time, in 1898, that the Yukon earned its current political status.

When the Gold Rush ended in 1903 more than 95 million dollars had been extracted from the Yukon's rivers. Though most of the gold is gone, some Yukoners continue to make a living as placer miners today.

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The Modern Force: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Today, as the federal police force of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is responsible for enforcing federal laws. Unlike most other federal police forces, however, it also has a major role in front-line policing throughout the country, including in provincial jurisdictions; although the provinces and territories are constitutionally responsible for law and order, eight of them have chosen to contract most or all of their policing responsibilities to the RCMP.

The Force, consequently, operates under the direction of the provincial governments in regard to provincial and municipal law enforcement. The exceptions are Ontario, Quebec, and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, which have their own provincial police forces the Ontario Provincial Police, the Sûreté du Québec, and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, respectively. In the three territories, the RCMP serves as the sole territorial police force. Additionally, many municipalities throughout Canada contract the RCMP to serve as their police force.

Accordingly, the RCMP is responsible for an unusually large breadth of duties, from policing in isolated rural towns, the far north, and urban areas; providing protection services for the monarch, Governor General, Prime Minister and other ministers of the Crown, visiting dignitaries, and diplomatic missions; enforcing federal laws, including wire fraud, counterfeiting, and other related matters; providing counterterrorism and domestic security; and participating in various international policing efforts.

The RCMP Security Service was a specialized political intelligence and counterintelligence branch with national security responsibilities, but was replaced with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in 1984, following revelations of illegal covert operations relating to the Quebec separatist movement.[3] Duties, conduct and operational and reporting guidelines are very specifically laid out in a detailed document known as the Commissioner's Standing Orders, or CSOs.

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To read much more about the historic Mounties, go to NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE: The Mounties in History, Literature & Hollywood.