This isn’t quite Canadian Independence Day, it’s more like Canadian Intention Day. When the (American) Civil War started, the people of the Great White North were still part of the UK and they feared a repeat of the War of 1812, especially if the Confederacy succeeded (won or got an armistice). Despite the UK being the toughest world power in 1867, war with the US over British North America (official name for Canada then) would be difficult, expensive and probably impossible to win, even if it were just the Union portion invading. So the British government told its colonists they’d have to learn to defend themselves or make peace with the Americans—this explains the Peace Garden in North Dakota Brian and I would ridicule when we lived there.
I’m not sure if the UK wanted Canada to become a sovereign nation during the height of its empire though. It worked out for the best since World War I and II ended UK dominance. However, Canadian Intention Day is still more appropriate as it’s really a treaty that reads like a business plan on how the country would be organized. There’s nothing stating the unfairness of Queen Victoria as our Declaration states about King George III. Decades would pass as Canada grew into its modern counterpart and gradually they got permission from the UK to take on more self rule. Or at least, that’s how it reads and how some Canadians explain it such as The Daily Show‘s Samantha Bee. Today it’s comical to think the UK could ever coerce Canada into anything now.
What brought this on anyway? I think my stream KMAG must have been reading my mind because this morning it played South Park‘s “Blame Canada.” It’s still one of the best numbers in the movie. I wonder of Canadians get a laugh out of it. I’d like to hope so, besides Hockey, Molson beer, lumber, paper, oil and Rush (the band, the Right Wing blowhard is an American defect), comedy is their biggest intellectual export: The Kids in the Hall, SCTV, William Shatner’s singing and numerous members of SNL. Okay, maybe we scratch the last one, I can’t think of a decent movie starring Dan Akroyd, Mike Meyers or Norm MacDonald in the last decade.