Côlin de Bin

I’ve noticed this myself, and it becomes even more apparent on the political right, especially when compared to Canada. There are several layers worth examining here. The first and most obvious is that Australia and New Zealand are very young nations. While the Dominion of Canada was founded in 1867, it was jointly founded with French Canadians. This is important, and we will return to it later. Canada also has at least two centuries of preceding history, dating back to 1608 at the earliest. Identity conscious Canadians possess the collective national memory of having been displaced by the liberal American Revolution and of the War of 1812, which, for Canadians, was a war of existential survival. All of this occurred before the British Empire collapsed and, in its final days, was snuffed out by the emerging American Empire. That is to say, a distinct Canadianness, an alternative Anglo civilization, was allowed to germinate on North American soil. The purpose of the state built by the Loyalists in Ontario and the Maritime provinces was a political, cultural and ideological refutation of the revolutionary liberalism experienced in the Thirteen Colonies and the French Republic, to which the Loyalists and Canadiens compared the Americans. Anglo Canadians today can stealthily pose as Americans while mentally retaining a separate identity. Nobody else in the Anglosphere can do this. The second important variable is that, despite the indisputable Americanization of Canadian culture and politics, which can be observed across the Anglosphere, even in Britain, the border between Canada and the United States serves as a whetstone. Anglo Canadians in every generation are the outsiders looking into the American imperial core, much like the Macedonians looking into Ancient Greece. They are part of the American milieu, a consequence of the imperial Anglo identity shifting from Britain to the United States, while remaining something distinct. This never ending comparison and contrast, and its impact on national identity, has forced every generation of Canadians to determine precisely what distinguishes them from the United States. Canadians possess, in some shape or form, an eternal vigilance against the United States, which remains an existential threat given its history as a former adversary and its gargantuan gravitational pull. The second whetstone is the French fact. Cohabitation with French Canadians, whose own development and identity formation have been influenced by Anglo civilization, whether Anglo Canadian, American or British, provides another point of comparison through which Anglo Canadians can test their own identity. Historically, the organic presence of Roman Catholicism and the French language reinforced Anglo Canadian identity by reminding Anglo Canadians that another people existed who nevertheless shared the same Canadian genus while remaining sufficiently distinct to matter. Canada has also produced an enormous amount of cultural capital. In the second half of the 20th century, Canadians produced a ludicrous number of actors, actresses, comedians, musicians, film directors, cartoons and video games that would be exported around the world. Canada has always punched above its weight in virtually everything since the beginning of its existence. Lastly, on the political right, compare Canada to Australia. Why is it that Australia’s furthest right movement is, in essence, American neo Nazism and white nationalism, while Canada’s is not? I don’t mean this as a pejorative. I mean it substantively. Because Canada is older, possesses a distinct national identity and mythology, and has its own political traditions to draw upon. Australia has much less to work with.

Me when I read that René Lévesque called Anglo Québécois “Westmount Rhodesians”:

Something that viscerally disgusts me is the ease of which Canadians tear down, denigrate or insult others about their culture or lack of it. Everybody has been kicking Anglo-Canadians while they’re down for my entire life, and lately it seems like it’s ramped up. You have some Québécois bitterly and resentfully claiming they have no culture, or their identity was stolen from them, you have the Americans claiming they don’t exist and never have. Everything is pointing to a total disregard of the Anglo-Canadian experience, culture and ethnos. One of the reasons I started this whole thing was precisely because nobody would fight for Anglo-Canadians, or a united Canada of the Two Solitudes. Very sad state of affairs. The discourse is disappointing lately.

I’m currently researching the Quiet Revolution and planning to host a Space soon to deep dive into the propaganda and competing historical narratives of Québécois, Anglo-Québécois, and Anglo Canadians during this period.

Ça va être vraiment drôle quand Plamondon va découvrir que refuser le serment au roi comme député ne le libère pas de la Couronne. Le Québec a aboli ce serment pour les députés de l’Assemblée nationale, mais ça ne change pas le cadre constitutionnel qui régit la fonction de premier ministre. Point à la ligne : s’il n’est pas nommé par le lieutenant gouverneur, représentant du roi au Québec, il ne peut pas légalement devenir premier ministre. Au lieu de perdre son temps avec du théâtre politique performatif autour de la Couronne, peut être qu’il devrait se concentrer immédiatement sur une réduction massive de l’immigration.