Essay On Canadian Identity

What is a Canadian? Some may answer by describing typically friendly, polite, maple-loving people who find beavers to be of great importance. The truth is that whether or not others believe it Canadians are more than maple and hockey. ‘Scratch us and we bleed history’ (Waddington). Canadian identity has relations to symbols and object which are significant to the country but it is also greatly impacted by what has occurred in the history of the country. As a matter of fact, many of the things Canada is known for are significant because of the history of the country. The creation of the country was unique in itself with a variety of settlers and people native to the land eventually forming one nation. From these group came a variety of

Numerous Canadian writings and history lessons mention Louis Riel who is considered a hero to many Canadians. Even American authors such as Linda Granfield find it enjoyable “’meeting’ Louis Riel” (Granfield). Also important to the development of Canadian identity are the sports ‘legends’. The most well-known Canadian ‘legends’ are perhaps hockey players. Yes, the people who skate in and out of opponents to quickly shoot the puck into the net are quite important to various Canadians. Very few Canadians would be clueless if you were to ask about Wayne Gretzky and a great number of people view Rocket Richard as another significant figure of hockey. “I’m Rocket Richard” (Redbird) wrote Redbird, signifying how role models such as these have truly impacted the identity of Canadians. This is perhaps why so many identify Canadians with hockey. On the other hand, we aren’t often associated with a telephone but the useful invention is still something that impacted the Canadian identity. After all, the inventor was a Canadian. For this reason Alexander Graham Bell is significant to Canadians and is an example of the great intelligence that is often prevalent in this