Typically Canadian, eh?
New York Times fails to look past the stereotypes
ON FEB. 9, the New York Times published an article on Canada’s Own the Podium initiative, a program that focused on athletic performance throughout the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Th e article, entitled “Canada’s Medal Quest: Gold and Lots of It,” described how Canada’s drive for gold medals goes against traditional Canadian values and culture. Calling the program anti-Canadian, it explains that the stress to perform well at the Olympics detracts from team spirit and equality. While the article may sound informative to the unsuspecting American, here in Canada it has been seen as an ignorant description of what it means to be Canadian and an attack on our competitive athleticism.
To start with, the article is full of typical American stereotypes. Let’s take the very first argument as an example: it stated that the pressure to win medals in the Olympics makes Canadians uneasy because “theirs is a vast country that in many ways is run like a small town, with small-town values, and it has a highly developed culture of modesty, if not a collective inferiority complex.”
There is not much in this statement that is actually true. Firstly, the “small town” comparison is disgraceful to Canadian integrity. We are the founders of peacekeeping; we have legalized same-sex marriage; and we are home to some of the most multicultural cities in the world. Does this sound like the work of a small town with repressive and closed-minded values? Secondly, although Canadians do pride themselves on their modesty, I do not believe that it results in a collective inferiority complex. We are a proud nation that is accepting of all ethnicities, cultures, and races. If anything, it strengthens our pride.
In addition to stating such ignorant claims, the article offers as supporting evidence quotes from lesser-known Canadian writers and artists—people whose jobs are to be critical and sometimes cynical.
One quote, written by the Canadian writer George Woodcock, stated, “Canadians do not like heroes, and so they do not have them. They do not even have great men in the accepted sense of the word.”
Now, what gives Woodcock the authority to say such things? Why did the Times choose him to describe what Canadians believe or accept? Personally, I believe there are many great Canadians: the late Terry Fox, Marathon of Hope runner; former prime minister Pierre Trudeau; Tommy Douglas, founder of Canadian socialized medicine; Senator Romeo Dallaire, a former Canadian general and peacekeeper; and Olympic rower Silken Laumann, to name just a few. Canadians have heroes, but what we don’t do is make them celebrity icons that are followed everywhere by the tabloids. Try asking a few average Canadian citizens, politicians, or even children about their own Canadian heroes. I am positive their answers would be enlightening.
The last argument I will touch upon is the criticism of hockey. Blowing this sport way out of proportion, the article claims that the violence in the game is our release from our modest and polite way of life. Bruce McCall, a Canadian illustrator who is known for his contributions to The New Yorker, was quoted as saying, “Hockey has grace and beauty, which aren’t very Canadian; [but] it also has violence, which Canadians officially disapprove of, but in fact they love.”
I cannot speak for all Canadians, but personally I love hockey for its athleticism. Admittedly, the violence in hockey is exciting; but in the United States, isn’t that what sells the game? Th e physicality of hockey has never been questioned before, so why now? Speed, technique, and fearless courage are what make the sport. Lastly, why is it anti-Canadian to have grace and beauty? Th at I do not understand, and I doubt many readers will, either.
Despite these comments, I will say that the article did occasionally get it right. We are, and will remain, a modest, polite, and equality-driven country. A little competition is fun; it builds team spirit and national pride—something the Olympics strives to promote. I do not see how this interferes with our Canadian morals.
As a typical Canadian, I hope that the New York Times will now see our true values and our true potential, given the resounding success that was the Vancouver Games. And, above all else, I hope that people the world over can push past the stereotypes and see this great country for what it really is: a proud nation. I know that I, along with nearly all Canadians, am proud of what our athletes accomplished at these Games, and I certainly don’t see our success as being “anti-Canadian.”
Check out the original New York Times article at nytimes.com/2010/02/10/sports/olympics/10podium.html?src=tptw.
