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Fireman John rushed into a burning building and rescued a beautiful young lady, who was clad in her baby doll nightgown. After he had carried her down three flights of stairs and saved her life, the girl looked at him with admiration and gratitude and said, “Oh, you are wonderful! It must have taken great strength and courage to rescue me the way you did!”
“Yes, it did,” the fireman admitted. “I had to fight off three other firemen who were trying to get to you first!”
Canadians are now speculating on the source of our strength, and have come up with the slogan “diversity is our strength”. No doubt, diversity is worth celebrating, but is it what makes Canada strong? Here are some random comments voiced by Canadians.
“No matter how we came to be Canadians, our role in strengthening this country is dependent on the choices we make every day. Our future is dependent on enough people making wise choices.” Another Canadian speculated that we can identify with different groupings, as long as we are Canadians first.
The president of the Canadian Legion wrote these words back in 1943: “In unity there is strength. The Canadian veterans of the First Great War took seven long years to learn this lesson. What a dearly-bought experience it was!”
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The Canadian Football League has promoted a “Diversity is Strength” campaign focusing on the parallel between the diversity that makes up their league and that which makes up our country. They wear t-shirts that advertise the slogan, yet coaches are aware that when they teach things as a team, it’s only natural that the team will become stronger.
At a Canada 150 celebration it was noted that no country is founded on differences it contains. Celebrating our differences is an uplifting slogan, but it doesn’t mean much unless it is proceeded by a common, shared and unified understanding of ourselves as a nation.
A prime example of shared unity played out right here in Western Canada one month ago when prairie fires were raging. We couldn’t begin to count the number of firefighters, RCMP, first responders, village and town employees, and an overwhelming amount of volunteers who joined together to help.
Volunteers made food, arranged transportation, evacuation, accommodation, hauled water, fought fires and tiny communities managed to raise significant amounts of money to help those who experienced loss.
All those brave people didn’t draw their strength from their diversity; their strength came from their genuine care for one another and the land we live on.
Over and over again, we gather together at various events, and stand together to sing our national anthem. At those times, our differences are obliterated by what we hold in common, which is an overwhelming love for our country and the people in it.
The government can’t produce unity by legislating what Canadians can or cannot say. And unity does not automatically become evident because we choose to celebrate diversity. Unity only begins in the hearts of Canadians, when we set aside our differences, and embrace what we have in common. What we should have in common is a love for our nation and our fellow Canadians.
Here, on the prairies, we witnessed the strength of communities joining together, some even giving their lives, in order to help rescue their neighbours and their livelihoods.
So while I fully endorse diversity, I can’t get myself to wear a t-shirt that says “diversity is our strength”. Because I’ve seen Canadian strength in action, and it wasn’t generated out of diversity.
Joan Janzen is a freelance opinion columnist.
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