Unpopular Opinion: Canada Isn't That Great

The artwork above was created by the incredible Canadian writer and artist Hana Shafi, who is an immigrant from Dubai (@frizzkidart on Instagram)

In the aftermath of the Unite the Right Rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11 and 12, 2017, I remember talking to my mother about how sad and scary the whole event was. After some discussion she said, “I’m so glad we live in Canada. No one would ever do anything like that here.”

Now, my mum is a very liberal, educated woman. She is a self-proclaimed loudmouthed leftie who spends too much time (in my opinion) engaging with ignorant and hateful family members, community members, and strangers on the internet all in the defense of the rights of marginalized people. She understands what intersectionality is. Her Facebook bio right now is “Bleeding heart liberal with social justice warrior aspirations. Unfriend me if it’s too much for ya.” Sassy, right? We love a socially-aware middle-aged woman.

But my lovely, strong, well-intentioned mother is lacking a transnational feminist framework. She has fallen prey to the persistent and charming illusion that we, as Canadians, are automatically better than those people in the United States who openly hate or those unfortunately less-developed countries abroad where laws still directly oppress women or LGBTQ individuals.

It’s true that the Canadian far-right events organized in support of the Charlottesville rally were very poorly attended, and that counter-protestors routinely outnumber white nationalists by the thousands at Canadian far-right events. But these events do happen in Canada. A CBC article from October 2018 stated that there were at least 130 “right-wing extremist groups” across Canada at that time.

Even putting aside the popular issue of neo-Nazism, Canada is not the sparkling haven of equality and social progress that we would like to believe it is. From 2004-2014 two thirds of Indigenous communities in Canada faced some sort of drinking water advisory, and currently according to Indigenous Services Canada there are still 59 long-term advisories in Indigenous reserves (with no short-term advisory statistics on that page). In its treatment of Indigenous women Canada had to be found guilty of violating the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women before it began an inquiry into the murders and disappearances of thousands of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA individuals (an inquiry which has been constantly criticized for its ineffectiveness). While righteous-feeling Canadians share Facebook posts about the shocking conditions of immigrant detention facilities and practices in the US, at least 16 people have died in Canadian detention centres since 2000.

All of this is to say, I’m tired of hearing people talk about how great Canada is. Of course we need to be aware of how privileged some of us are to live here and have freedoms that some don’t in other locations. But not all Canadians are enjoying these privileges. And this country was built on violent colonization and dispossession of Indigenous peoples. And these things have not been resolved, they are not in the past. Canada’s reputation as “the nice guy” on the world stage actually hinders progress as it allows Canadians to believe we’re done doing the work, and we can just sit back and criticize other countries now. A transnational feminist examination of our own back yard will show us our harmful bordering practices, our unethical treatment of migrant workers, our ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples and land, our xenophobia and racism that is dismissed because “most Canadians don’t think like that,” and more. We can start by having conversations about this stuff with people in our own lives, like I continue to do with my mum.

URL/Link:

https://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/features/right-wing-extremist-groups-and-hate-crimes-are-growing-in-canada (CBC article on hate groups in Canada)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bad-water-third-world-conditions-on-first-nations-in-canada-1.3269500 (CBC article about water advisories 2004-2014)

https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1506514143353/1533317130660 (official water advisory statistics)

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/06/27/canada-slammed-for-culture-of-secrecy-over-immigration-detention.html (immigrant detention deaths)

Keywords: Canada, colonization, immigration, privilege, transnational

Author: Seymour Butts