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Nationalism: Positive or Negative

Maria Maxwell

Nationalism is striving for a country. This has both positives and negatives and

can help or hinder how we view our country. Our national identity is collection of the

people and places we interact with and the perspective we take from these. The next

three sources will focus on the ideological perspective of nationalism.

Source one is an image of two Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers (RCMP).

One of the officers is wearing a turban and one is wearing the traditional campaign hat.

The ideological perspective presented is Canadian nationalism. These officers are of

different ethnic background, but are working in the same profession, supporting the

same country. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, adapted in 1982,

ensures that all citizens are given equal rights and freedoms, allowing both genders to

be part of the RCMP. Reasonable accommodation ensures that all people are given

equal opportunities, while still respecting ethnic and religious background. As a nation,

we need to be accepting of all people and respect that all people were created equal

and can work together. In our society today, many people are unaccepting of other

ethnicities, as seen at the University of Alberta, when a disturbing racist poster

campaign was put up around the campus. These posters do not reflect how Canada

views other ethnicities. People who choose to have racist views, often have a lack of

understanding for that ethnicity.This does not reflect Canadian views. Canada is seen

as a multicultural country that is accepting of all ethnic backgrounds. This source is pro-

nationalism.

Source Analysis Maria Maxwell


Source two is an image, depicting soldiers from the Oka Crisis. The words

“Remember Oka Crisis 1990” are shown above the soldiers. The ideological perspective

presented is Canadian nationalism. We see nationalist and non-nationalist loyalties

going head to head, having the Oka people fighting for their traditional land, and the

Canadian military fighting against them. The Oka rebels felt alienated during this time

and fought to have their land protected. From this event, the Royal Commission of

Aboriginal Peoples was formed, giving the Canadian government more information on

what was going on in First Nation’s society. The report urged Canadians to view First

Nations in a radically new way; as nation with a right to govern themselves, in

partnership with Canada. They are political and cultural groups with values and lifeways

distinct from Canada. In 1998, the Statement of Reconciliation was announced,

expressing regret for Canada’s history of suppressing First Nations culture. The bias of

this source is toward the Oka people.

Source three is a poster image, depicting images of the oil and tar sands and

their impact on our environment. There is sponsorship names along of bottom of

companies and organizations that support environmental causes. The picture inside the

maple leaf shows open excavation of a bitumen mine. The speech below talks about

how the Canadian government is allowing the Boreal Forest to be destroyed, just to

extract oil. The ideological perspective presented in the source is nationalism. In the

western provinces, we are so loyal to oil, we will go to extreme extents to get it. In the

1980’s, the National Energy Program was created, with the goals of making Canada a

self- sufficient country for energy, to reduce foreign ownership for oil and gas

companies operating in Canada and to protect Canadians against high energy costs by

Source Analysis Maria Maxwell


setting Canadian oil prices lower than the world price. People in Alberta were outraged,

because the prices of oil had drastically dropped, which was causing companies to do

business in other countries, which caused high unemployment rates. In 1981, Prime

Minister Pierre Trudeau and Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, agreed to let Alberta

control oil prices and revenue. Following this prices of oil rose, people started to invest

and Alberta became prosperous. Since then, Alberta has become an oil boom province,

with over 149 000 square kilometers of oil and gas mines, producing 175 billion barrels

of oil. In recent years, environmental stewardship and how we can reduce our impact,

has become a prominent topic. Has our need for oil become bigger than our need for

the environment? To what extent are we willing to sacrifice our environment for a

resource that can kill our planet? Our loyalty to oil has, in some ways, taken our identity

as Canadians. The author of this source, has a strong bias that is against oil sands

expanding and is afraid that our Canadian identity is being taken away and we are only

viewed for the resources we produce.

The relationship between all three of the sources is the principle of nationalism.

Source one shows an example of reasonable accommodation and how as Canadians,

we adapt and accept people of all ethnic backgrounds as part of the Canadian identity.

Source two demonstrates how nationalist and non- nationalist loyalties compete,

through the Canadian military and the Oka nation battling against each other. Source

three demonstrates how our loyalty to oil is hindering our ability to protect our

environment. Nationalism is the force that pushes us to deeply think about our loyalties

and our values. How we expand and grow as a nation, encompasses the things we

Source Analysis Maria Maxwell


value and builds our national identity. Nationalism shapes and changes how we view

our country and how other countries view us.

Source Analysis Maria Maxwell

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