HEAD OFFICE, MONTREAL, SEPTEMBER 1950

OUR CANADIAN WAY OF LIFE

T HIS article is an attempt to condense into a mere3,000 words the essence of what goes to mi~ke upour Canadian Way of Life; it would take volumes

and volumes to tell it all.

What we can see in a quick summary is good. In aworld where we are harried day and night by newdevices and disturbances, Canadians live comfortably,though not so easily as to stagnate. Our nationalambition is to live richly, rather than to be rich.

If we have a fault, it is to take for granted the valuesand benefits of our Canadian way of life. This freesociety, eminent in the world because of its individualfreedoms and its great opportunities for self-advance-ment and the sense of security it provides to ease men’sminds, was gained by the struggles and sacrifices ofthe men and women from whom we inherit it.

One hu~idred and twelve years ago ~ a short spanin human history--Governor-General Lord Durhamreported to the British Government: "These small andunimportant communities (Upper and Lower Canada,Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Islandand Newfoundland) could be elevated into a societyhaving some objects of national importance." It ishard to realize today how bold and optimistic thatjudgment was in its time.

Today, Canada is a leader in civilization. She maynot dominate the physical world by her size, hereconomic strength, her armed might or her populationfigures, but in the world of ideas, of humanity and ofgraceful living she is second to no country on earth.

The strength of Canada’s mind and the high levelof her ideals are shown in unique ways. She is theonly kingdom on a huge continent of republics, yether people enjoy a measure of freedom unsurpassedand probably not equalled -- in the Americas. She hasoriginated and developed autonomy within a worldsystem of commonwealths, yet keeps the most intimatefriendship with the world’s greatest independent state.Her internal dualism, linking two widely different

cultures in a united nation, seems to qualify her in aspecial way for participation in the councils of thenations.

What Kind of People Are We?

What kind of people are Canadians? The outstand-ing fact is that we are all kinds of people. The Frenchspeaking Canadians have more American generationsbehind them than any other white stock north of theRio Grande, save only the Spanish. Their energy andvolatility and family spirit were necessary to theupbuilding of this raw land. Then came the Scotch,the English, the Irish and the Welsh, with theirefficiency, thriftiness and their whole-souled respectfor law, order and self-control. To these, in thehundred years of Canada’s great growth, were addedthousands from other lands, east, west and south.Today, they are all Canadians.

When the first settlers came to this land, the Frenchand the British were already cultured peoples, withancient roots in literature, fine art, music, and science.They had social structures of high quality, and hadlaid the foundations of noble civilizations.

Out of these cultures was forged the commondenominator in Canadian character. Today, some ofthe differences have been merged harmoniously; whilesome have survived in a way that prevents standard-ization of the nation. It is a grand feat in nationbuilding when two diverse cultures march cordiallytogether, co-operating and making allowances, merg-ing ideas and preserving ideals, and welcoming peoplefrom many other nations.

So here we are: a complex aggregation of people ina land of striking contrasts, facing together problemsof wide diversity. The marvel of it is that we havewoven the culture and institutions of all these peopleinto an orderly and attractive pattern.

We have learned that there are not only two sidesbut many views of every case. We know that the greatestnation is not a nationalistic nation but one that ha,

many ties, of blood and mind and ideals, with othernations.

Some people might say that we do not show in ourdaily living that we are conscious of our keen sense ofparticipation in an epoch-making experiment innation building, or of our deep awareness of thegreatness of the adventure upon which Canada hasembarked. We are, in fact, less colourful figures tothe world than our own tourist advertisements makeus out to be. We have, as Hugh MacLennan put it, sucha talent for avoiding the dramatic that we often escapeeven the notice of our friends. We have a habit ofappearing solemn when we are only serious.

From Struggle to Comfort

Well, we are conservative by necessity and habit.We have not had an easy country in which to work orlive. The Arctic wilderness presses close upon ourcities. Montreal, our great metropolis--an island of1,442,000 people; the world’s greatest inland port, athousand miles from the sea; a city with the world’sgreatest French-speaking population, aside fromParis--lies only 45 miles by rail from the UnitedStates border. One hundred and twenty miles west isOttawa, the capital city of Canada. And beyond Ottawathe hills and tundra stretch, scarcely touched by humanhands, unbroken to the Arctic Sea.

To survive in this narrow strip between the world’smost highly-developed industrial nation and thebarren land, we have had to be a tough and adaptablepeople. We have little margin for error.

Yet this country is in the centre of world affairs. Ourdoors open east and west, north and south, whereunpredictable changes are taking place in greatnations. We are, literally, at the crossroads of a newly-developing world.

Upon this narrow strip of land we have built anation in which it is good to live. It is false to idealizethe past, because the ease and comfort of today werenot born of easiness and lassitude. It was a tough job,to make Canada what she is today. To raise the stand-ard of living on this continent to levels never elsewhereattained demanded work and planning of a high order.

Once our people hewed farm plots out of the wilder-ness, built their own homes, made their own clothesand produced their own food. Children and womenlaboured hard in the fields and there was no diversionbut sleep.

This year, Toronto is building a subway to carrythousands of persons swiftly and comfortably betweentheir homes and downtown. Machines are digging atrench along Yonge Street. Here is menial work, butno manual toil and no slavery; only proud mechanicsguiding the great machines. There, but for inventionand initiative, go a thousand slaves, poor skill-lessmen, digging wearily with tools a thousand years old.

There are wires on our roofs, on which birds sit tosing, but within the wires are songs from half a worldaway, brought by the genius that developed radio.

In hydro power we are pre-eminent among nations.Waterfalls are harnessed to bring us electricity,

Flouring into our factories power in a cascade thatberates a hundred men with every pulsation.

At the last count, a million homes out of 3,300,000had refrigerators, 3,127,000 had radios, 623,000 hadelectric ranges, and 2 million had electric washingmachines. When we take a total view, and see ourmodern Canada against its background, we are com-forted. Some may still live backward lives, but millionsare living better, and all have the opportunity to stepforward.

The Test of Democracy

As part of our improved standard of living we mustrecognize the increased attention given to socialservices. Public health is the concern of all levels ofgovernment. Pensions for the aged and the blind havebeen adopted by the provinces with financial helpfrom the Dominion. Unemployment insurance, familyallowances, war pensions, help in home-building, andmany other forms of assistance, are provided throughgovernment action.

But these are merely incidental; they are not themeasure of a democracy. The test of democracy is theextent of freedom its people have from dependence onauthority. This freedom is a sign of maturity.

It can be said with assurance that Canadians do notwish to become so dependent on their governmentthat they, like people in some other countries, willforfeit political democracy. All that they look for isadequate reward for initiative, ability and work, withsafeguards for those who cannot work.

Hon. Paul Martin, Minister of National Health andWelfare, told a conference on social work in June:"’It never can be too often emphasized that socialsecurity is not an end in itself; it is only part of thepattern of our whole social system. The first essentialin any society is to produce in such quantities that allwho are willing to work and who can work will beable to enjoy a decent livelihood for themselves andtheir families."

Closely allied with dependency is fear. People wholive in states where citizens are kept as dependents areafraid that their benefits will be cut offifthey offend thepowers that handle the distribution of gifts, allowancesand bonuses.

Freedom

Canadians, whether native-born or immigrants, maylive and act with full security within our pattern offreedom. We do not simply safeguard human rights;we erect an order of law, animated by freedom ofmen’s spirits.

This means that men must not expect that in Canadathey will be told what to do. That is the kind of thingthat happened in Germany and Russia. We believe

r here that freedom to think should be followed~ using

. ~ your head to choose between alternative courses ofaction. It is freedom of choice that develops personal-ity, and it is onl~ out of personality expression thatreasonable men oerive satisfaction.

Democratic governments feel it to be part of theirduty to avoid unnecessary interference with men andwomen who intend to carve out careers on their own.They believe it is their duty to interfere as little aspossible with voluntary associations. They leave menfree to make an honest livelihood at what trades theywant, and do not dragoon them into labour. Theyencourage men to express their opinions.

Canadians believe in independence and in thegrowth of personal responsibility. They reject thesuggestion that men should be made good citizens bycompulsion, by statute, or by coerdon. They believemore good will be accomplished by inducting theGolden Rule into aU phases of Canadian life than byany number of government edicts. Regard for one’sfellow man, considered by some to be the touchstoneof all other virtues, stands out as a cardinal principleof Canadian life, both within Canada and in herinternational contacts.

The Good Citizen

All of these rights, liberties and benefits are at thefree and bountiful service of good citizens. Anyonecan be a good citizen of Canada if he keeps his heartright; if he acknowledges the dignity and worth of allsocially acceptable work; if he appreciates the necessityand justice of a fair return for a fair day’s labour; if herealizes the interdependence of all people, and that ahigh standard of living depends upon the co-operationand contribution of all people; if he feels the need forconserving Canada’s natural resources of men andmaterials, and does his part toward their best develop-ment; if he participates in municipal, provincial andfederal government and in community affairs.

That citizens should participate in governing them-selves is a vital part of democracy. You cannot set up ademocracy by building government machinery, butonly by developing a spirit.

When a person is convinced that our Canadian wayof life offers more opportunity and happiness tolarger numbers of persons than does any other scheme,he will be eager to contribute his share to keeping ireffectively working. The democracy of which we aretalking is an arrangement of life whereby the membersof a group, large or small, have opportunity to partakein proportion to their maturity and ability. There is noroom in such a society for envious dislike of personswho are prominent or great, but an appreciation ofwhat all greatness adds to the common good.

Our Government

Democratic government is a form of government inwhich the people rule by discussion and compromise.Free elections, in which the people choose their

government representatives, and the secret ballot,which gives them absolute freedom of choice, areprized possessions of Canadians.

In Canada, all government is elected government,responsible to the people. The cabinet, which has itsfinger on all phases of national life, economic andsocial, internal and external, is made up of men chosenfrom the elected representatives of the people. Thesemen, each of whom is head of a department ofgovernment, are directly responsible to parliament.

There is no distinction between class or creed inCanadian public affairs. Rich or poor, a Canadiancitizen has a voice in the government, may serve on amunicipal council, in a provincial legislature, inparliament, or on boards set up by any of these gov-ernments. Minorities are heard freely and patiently.

The existence of an opposition party in parliamentis necessary to our system. In totalitarian countriesthere can be only one political party, and a revolutionis needed if a government is to be changed. In ademocracy, the people may vote the government outand the opposition in.

This is one reason why it is the duty of any demo-cratic government to take the people frankly into itsconfidence.

Consultation is one of the oldest democratic ftunc-tions, the natural instrument for government to use inorder to harmonize its policy with public opinion.The people should be given a picture in broad outlineof the proposed plan and of the economic and socialfacts that underlie it. Then they should be shown whatare their individual tasks and duties. The people of ademocratic country like Canada cannot be driven inblinkers. Any attempt to promote great changeswithout making clear the purpose and method willdissolve into frustration.

External Affairs

Canadians have a compelling interest in worldaffairs. The pressure of events, the continuing sense ofcrisis, and the rivalries of continents, demand clearand confident rather than flamboyant Ieadership, andthis Canada is prepared to give. She has the attributesof a hunter who was referred to by a companion inthese terms: "He is the kind of man to go tiger huntingwith in the dark, because you can always reach outand be sure he is there."

Canada, more than most nations, needs world peacefor her prosperity. Her external trade provides a thirdof her national income. If her exports were cut off orseriously interfered with, every workman’s payenvelope would suffer. For this practical reason, as wellas because of a natural desire for world peace andorder, Canada supports the United Nations.

Religion and Education

People in Canada worship in many different ways,yet their belief in God, their emphasis upon trust, hopeand love are strong assets toward the development of

good citizenship. All the faiths represented in Canada,and freely practised here, teach the dignity of thehuman soul, and regard all individuals as ,mportantmembers of the human family. The church, of whateverdenomination, is the voice of the nation’s conscience.

This spiritual culture, the inward force which createsand sustains the outward manifestations of civilization,is the greatest power a democracy can have. That isone reason why democracies take such pains to safe-guard the right of citizens to worship "each accordingto the dictates of his own conscience". It is one of themost important freedoms in the modern world.

Church authorities in Canada and elsewhere areemphatic in their condemnation of the atheism andtyranny of Communism. Any system of governmentthat deprives people of the right to faith, the exerciseof their religious instincts, and the communion ofspirit provided by worship, will be condemned by allraght-thinking people.

There are ample and freely-available educationalresources in Canada, directed to providing theopportunity for self-realization, human relationship,economic efficiency and civic responsibility.

The standard educational ladder consists of eightgrades in a public elementary school and four or fivein a public secondary school, though there are minordifferences in the provinces. The vital point is thatthroughout these years education is free. There arecertain "separate" schools to accommodate minoritygroups.

After school years comes adult education, whichenables the mature members of the community topursue various courses of study. In recent years, adulteducation has grown from almost complete obscurityto the position of a third partner along with highereducation and the public schools. It is not a scheme tohelp the illiterate and under-educated to "catch up",but a plan for enabling everyone to develop the bestthat is in him and obtain the greatest satisfactions outof life.

Adult education is a main strength of democracy.Subversive influences and totalitarian philosophiesthrive on ignorance. They cannot stand the light oftruth. This is why enlightened men in business,government and education are supporting every ad-vance in adult education, urging the idea of lightingup the schools at night for use of mature persons, andcontributing through pamphlets, films and posters tothe spread of knowledge.

Law and the Police

The high standing and independence of magistratesand judges have always been conspicuous merits inCanadian government. Judges are not elected butare appointed for life b~ the Governor-General inCouncil or the Provincial Lieutenant-Governor in

Council, according to the rank and duty of the court.They must not take part in politics, and are not allow-ed to vote. Their positions are regarded by all asposts of great honour and responsibility.

Respect for the law derives from the highest levels.In taking the Coronation Oath, the King is asked:"Will you to your power, cause Law and Justice, inMercy, to be executed in all your judgments?" Towhich the King assents, "I will."

From coast to coast, Canada has a uniform code ofcriminal laws and a uniform procedure in criminalmatters. The purpose of law is to guard the libertiesof every citizen. In a democracy like Canada, a man isfree to live as he chooses so long as he keeps withinthe law which he, as a voter, had a hand in shaping.

The police in Canada, perhaps better than any othergroup, know the meaning of civil liberties and p. er-sonal rights because it is their duty to guard againstthe violation of these rights by anyone or by any group.They are the friends of every good citizen, and thedefenders of our free democratic way of life.

Our Future

We can listen at any moment and hear our countrygrowing. The air is rich with promise. The spirit ofCanada is progressive still. We can say to the childrenwho left school this year what old Voltaire, when hewent to Paris in 1778 to die, said to the youth in whosehearts he sensed the grandeur of the coming century:"The young are fortunate: they will see great things."

We are not seeking a mechanical utopia, or acountry with highways paved with gold. The idealCanada will be developed by its people, using allthat science can give them as an aid but keeping theirroots firmly grounded in the rich heritage of the past.

To quote a fine Greek adage: "Life is the gift ofnature, but beautiiul living is the gift of wisdom."What we need in these days is to broaden our know-ledge and intelligence, and at the same time cling tothe simple virtues which our society approves. Thevalues which test achievement m honesty, truthfulness,self-control, fair play, loyalty, devoutness, and manyothers m these play a determining part in the courseand pattern of life.

We, a nation of 14 million people, covet no otherman’s land. We wish that the nations of the worldshould live together in peace, and that we and theyshould develop an exalted spirit of co-operation.

We will do our share toward bringing into beingthe better world of which all good men dream. Wewill transmit our handiwork to future Canadians, inthe confident faith that time will merely wear away thedross of it, and that what is worthy in what we andour children build will be preserved.

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