I Am Canadian!

Canadians have been referred to in many terms. We have been called overly polite, always apologizing for everything, even in some extremes just 'being there'. We have been referred to as weak, humble, and a nation who has hung on the shirt tails of the United States of America. We have, over a 50 year period, been seen as a nation where our military was whittled away by years of neutering. In fact it would be fair to say that for many, a sense of community pride was only regional, with Canada Day celebrated with some confusion only sparking a hint of national pride.

On the eve of the Team Canada and Russia's fateful Olympic game on February 26th, the Russian newspaper Pravda, in an editorial, described Canada in this manner. “The abject cruelty shown by Canadian soldiers in international conflicts is scantily referred to, as indeed is the utter incapacity of this country to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom, whose Queen smiles happily from Canadian postage stamps,"

Yes, it can be said that for the average Canadian, national pride was something we held to ourselves, and so in some respect Canadians are really a population of folks who have a sense of “National Humility.” And, it is this humility that gave credence to an international rag like Pravda, the ability to 'dis' our nation to the world.

That was until the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The last two weeks have really welled up feelings that perhaps the old Maple Leaf is something to be reckoned with. With a total of 14 gold metals, Canada has gone down in history as the nation with the most gold won at a Winter Olympics since the inception of the winter games. This feeling of pride may have started when Montreal born Alexandre Bilodeau won our first Gold but the fervor hit when our Canadian woman's hockey team took the gold from the USA followed by the men's Team Canada trouncing the Russians, knocking the former red giant from the games. That event alone was the first time in the Olympics since 1960 Canada has won a game against Russia.

Of course, the crowning achievements came Saturday and Sunday. First when Alberta's own Team Martin, skipped by Kevin Martin, won Gold, then with what can only be described as hair raising intensity, Team Canada fought head-to-head with Team USA to a squeaking overtime win. Yes, it can be easily said that Canada owned the championship spot on the podium for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

This growing sense of Canadian Pride, is something that has been building over the past four years. In a survey conducted in 2006, by University of Chicago, Canada ranked sixth out of the top thirty-four countries as those nations whose citizens clearly conveyed an emotional tie to their international identity. In that survey the United Sates was ranked first followed by Venezuela, Ireland, South Africa and Australia.

Jump ahead to October 2009, with Canada taking a more dominant stance on the international stage and the Canadian economy holding stronger than most other countries and the world pride-o-meter shifted.

In a survey released that month by The Economist, Canada rose to second spot on National Pride, just behind the first place Australians. Followed only by Finland, Austria and Singapore. This sense of National Pride was already coming to a head for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when the CEO of VANOC, John Furlong, announced that the committee wanted the Olympic flame to be carried across Canada on a route that would touch as many Canadians as possible on a personal level. People from Hobbema, Wetaskiwin to Leduc all had the opportunity to see the flame only to be overtaken by a well of proud emotions.

This sense of National Pride was very evident and reported by media out-side of Canada. Pravda aside, NBC reported on the heels of the USA's Sean White taking Gold for snowboarding, they stated, “Americans dominate this sport but Canadian National Pride is everywhere in the stands.”

So really what is pride? The standard definition is simply a sense of one's own proper dignity or value as it speaks to national self respect. A secondary definition is a pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement. In this understanding, the achievements of our athletes in the field of competition definitely brought us pride as we understand it.  And, it was clearly displayed in the closing ceremonies. From the humble and yet humorous display of a mime repairing the malfunctioned Olympic Flame as exposed in the opening ceremonies, to seeing William Shatner and Micheal J. Fox end the closing ceremonies with an elaborately expanded version of “I Am Canadian”  from the popular  “The Rant”  beer commercial.

It was a real emotional ride for all Canadians that had the ability to witness Vancouver host the Olympics and see Canadians whose hard work and dedication to not only to their athletic ambitions, but also, to their dedication to our nation. These athletes are National Heroes. People who bravely competed in sports, that in many cases have been proven dangerous, and who in a sense, became the real leaders of this country for a brief moment in history.

I personally like the other definition of pride;  A company of Lions. Because quite frankly, our athletes, volunteers, and the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) have never roared so loudly in an international event. Our thanks go to these people for upping the stakes on a international Canadian identity.

“CANADA IS THE SECOND LARGEST LANDMASS, THE FIRST NATION OF HOCKEY AND THE BEST PART OF NORTH AMERICA. MY NAME IS BRIAN AND ‘I AM CANADIAN!’”