The reactions of people living in the United States are mixed after the election results were called. Communities all over are celebrating a victory for their rights while others are unhappy with the results. In light of these events, Canada should take a look inward at the state of its people. While Canada has a reputation for being the “nice guy” or the polite country, it has issues of its own. Here are some things Canadians should reflect on in terms of what’s going on in our country.
Believe it or not, the question of whether or not Canada is Americanizing its politics is a rather relevant question. There are patterns in how the different parties are running their platforms, campaigns and rallies. Fear-mongering seems to be a common trend. As a country that prides itself in being a kind global neighbour, how are its citizens letting politicians get away with smearing one another and not fighting for things that matter to the people?
The common “us versus them” narrative seems to be a prominent go-to as it invokes fear in the hearts of many people across the nation. This shows how the goal of politics nowadays is to scare people so that they vote against certain politicians or parties. Miseducation and misuse of political ideologies follows this fear and fuels it more. In some cases, it transforms that fear into hatred. Politicians have a responsibility to the people, to the citizens. They should not be allowed to get away with fighting like elementary school children on a playground. Pointing fingers at each other without having a true reason to do so is childish. As adults, who essentially run aspects of our country, we should expect them to act responsibly and treat each other respectfully. Another prominent issue is that Canada’s news is polarizing and is becoming more and more biased as time goes on.
When you turn on the news, what do you see? Is it local news or more statistics from the United States? Do news channels these days seem to be picking sides rather than presenting the facts to their viewers? If you cannot answer these questions in a more positive light without hesitation, perhaps the media might not be doing as great of a job at presenting relevant and crucial information to Canadians as it appears to be.
In some cases, the media tends to have a bias, but specific news companies do not disclose or make obvious what these biases are. This makes it harder for Canadians to differentiate between fact and opinion. This is especially relevant for those who grew up understanding that the news is supposed to be a trustworthy source of information.
Another issue that Canadians are having is the limits between religion and its relationship to the law. As a nation that lauds itself for multiculturalism and being a cultural mosaic, its laws are rooted in religion and other cultural values. Built by immigrants, as most people would say, the country has an exceptional variety of religions. This begs the question, are people able to separate their religious views from what the law should or should not “allow”?
This is especially important when looking at the accessibility of abortions and the LGBTQ+ community’s rights. These are people who come from diverse cultures, religious beliefs, personal life stories and struggles. These are also people, period. That should be enough for people to realize that it is wrong to impose yourself and your values and beliefs onto another person, especially if it does not allow them to be who they are.
My values and beliefs should not restrict your ability to express yourself and be the person you are at the core. My freedom of speech does not go to the extent that I would be “allowed” to tell you to “go back to where you came from” or something along the lines of that.
Canadians should realize that we are all on stolen land. We are all immigrants here unless you are Indigenous to this land. As human beings, we should not have the right to tell one another who and what they are and not allowed to be. If I want to identify as a purple squid, I should be able to. If you want to dress a certain way, then express yourself to the fullest.
If Canada is indeed “the good guy”, Canadians need to start acting like it.