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**Kanada...Come!”?

ubiquitous Canadian heritage com-

mercials. Youknow, the little vignettes of such inspiring moments as the institution of Responsible Government (‘‘It’s a Canadian idea!’’) and the creation of Superman (one of the first of many Canadian celebrities to find work south of the border). One particularly telling clip is the vignette depicting the arrival of explorer Jacques Cartier in what was to become known as Canada. The native people welcome Cartier and his followers, inviting them to ‘‘Kanada’’, their word for village. Cartier’s interpreter, at a loss, improvises and says that the native chieftain is welcoming them to thenation of ‘‘Kanada’’. Anothermember of the expedition respectfully suggests that “Kanada’’ refers to the village, but the inter- preter sticks to his guns, and as Cartier mutters the word to himself meditatively you can see that these jokers have stumbled upon the na- tional monicker that we still cling to today. This little scene neatly crystallizes a few of the elements of Canada: racial and cultural colli- sion, language barriers and the like. It also marks the genesis of one of our country’s most

B y now you're all familiar with those

For one of the worlds’s richest and most onderful countries, Canada is ridiculously insecure. It may stem from the fact that we are ich a diverse cultural mosaic with a history of ompromise and co-existence. There’s no one ultural or political ideology that everyone can Wear unwavering allegiance to, nor should ere be necessarily. Diverse peoples can live peaceful and productive partnership under a ‘ntral authority; however, as cultures the world Ver tilt towards tribalism, the Quebecois and ther social and cultural groups in Canada have gun to lobby for greater self-determination, Ven separation. Canada, neurotic nation that it has since flown into a seemingly endless Ury of constitutional tinkering designed to ‘lle once and for all just who we think we are. Yennow, months after the constitutional refer- dum, ominous advertisements from ‘‘Cana- Private Broadcasters”? are warning us that, I'We're ever going to understand each other in ‘country, we need to talk’’. In recent news, perhaps the most striking °m of Canada’s fragile self-image is our “nt hand-wringing angst over how the new ‘tican president feels about Canada. Does a any idea we exist? If so, does he care? he develop a rapport with Mulroney? *Uld he bother to develop a rapport with our

pt

political pariah of a prime minister anyway? These are the questions on every Canadian journalist’s lips, even if Clinton isn’t inviting them to read his. The new American President has for the most part been blissfully ignorant of Canadian concerns thus far, and it’s ruffling more than a few political feathers up north. Our American neighbours, not ones to en- gage in such aimless soul-searching, are preoc- cupied with themselves and the multimillion dollar inauguration extravaganza with which they’re hailing their new chief. These are people who know what they want, though they are rather blindly faithful as they throng lem- ming -like to venerate the first political alterna- tive to come along in over a decade of Repub- lican rule. Are the Americans worried about whether Mulroney will accept Clinton? Pshaw, Poppycock. ‘‘Not gonna do it’, as a former chief executive was wont to say. They’ve got things like the economy to yak about, some- thing Clinton has promised to focus on. Canada has similar financial woes but, eternally inse- cure, is making nail-biting news of such things as the fact that Clinton visited Mexico’s Presi- dent before he visited our prime minister. Sends

chills up the spine, doesn’t it?

Granted, the U.S. of A. is our nearest neigh- bour and biggest trading partner, and we can’t afford to ignore them. After all, we’re still negotiating NAFTA and all sorts of delicate trade disputes (‘‘little bumps in the road’’ as the departing George Bush nostalgically referred to them recently); however, there’s no reason to slavishly follow every move they make. If the Americans were actually paying attention to us they might be amused by the constant attention we give them. It’s hard to look dignified and aloof with your nose pressed up against the

_ glass, and we might be more impressive diplo-

matically if we showed a bit more self assur- ance. More importantly, the Canadian media and especially our politicians should concern themselves more with pressing domestic con- cerns like the recession and the constitution. The Americans can take care of themselves, and Canadians should do the same. If ‘‘Kanada’’ is ever to feel secure in its national identity, it should look to its own village instead of gazing anxiously at its neighbours.

Sean McQuaid

Editor-in-Chief

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