Wave Of Beer-Ad Patriotism Holds Strong Into Canada Day Weekend
By
ANDREW FLYNN -- The Canadian Press TORONTO (CP) -- Tariq Patel has never drunk a beer in his life but he considers himself pretty thoroughly Canadian nonetheless.He's heard Molson's "Joe Canadian" profess his patriotism on TV and while he admits he doesn't really think much of it, he's got a rant of his own about his country.
"When I first came here people were very nice. You don't think that's a very big deal, but it was," says Patel.
"This is a good country, maybe not a great country. But great countries have problems. Here, we have kind people. Kindness is the best thing in the world. It's good to be Canadian."
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Beer companies are among the biggest proponents of Canadian patriotism. (CANADA NEWS WIRE PHOTO/Molson Canada)
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"I would never go back," he says, flashing a grin. "Even though I hate the bloody cold."
Patel is just one of millions of Canadians who are riding a wave of patriotic fervour that may well have found a catalyst in a beer commercial, says Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies.
"The fact that a beer commercial is actually the catalyst for this shows that there is obviously a fair number of people out there who want this to have some focus in the post-national unity period, that it can't be just by virtue of a crisis that our national identity resonates," says Jedwab, who is based in Montreal.
"We needed something else to focus on and here was one of the first things that came along -- it didn't take very much."
There's no doubt the commercial has had an impact since it debuted in late March. This spring, Heritage Minister Sheila Copps used a video of the beer ad to show Americans at the International Press Institute's World Congress how passionate Canadians are about their cultural identity. Even academics at a recent Canadian studies conference Jedwab attended in Jerusalem were quoting the ad, though they seemed "fairly puzzled that a beer ad could become so politically charged."
As for Molson's Joe Canadian (actor Jeff Douglas), he's performing a series of coast-to-coast rants this Canada Day weekend in Moncton, St. John's, Ottawa, Toronto, Barrie, Ont., Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria -- all squeezed into 28 hours. He's skipping Quebec because it hasn't been part of the Molson campaign.
This will likely be his swan song, at least as far as the rant goes -- Molson is discontinuing the series of ads.
Expressions of patriotism on Canada Day are usually less frenzied, more sedate and picturesque. For example, celebration organizers in Leduc, Alta., (population 15,000) planned to continue their tradition of waking up early to plant Maple Leaf flags on the lawns of the town. This year they're covering Leduc with a total of 10,000 flags, creating a sea of waving red-and-white to greet their fellow citizens.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the largest citizenship ceremony in Canadian history is being held at Downsview Park -- 2,103 new citizens will be sworn in together.
Not exactly earth shattering stuff, but Canadians have historically been quiet patriots, says Jedwab. The very word "patriotism" seems more appropriate to describe the louder, more boisterous American variety of nationalism.
"(Our history) has not been characterized by a strong degree of patriotism," he says.
"There are a lot of people who feel the fact we're not like that is one of the nice things about Canada. That we don't have to scream and yell out 'We're Canadian' to be proud of all that our country has accomplished."
Comedian Rick Mercer is no stranger to rants himself. As co-host of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Mercer regularly harangues Canadians about homegrown politics, culture and identity with a razor wit. He believes Canadians are patriots of the quiet variety because being loud about it would make us like Americans -- whom we despise for their overconfident nationalism.
"I'm a nationalist and I also feel uncomfortable with unbridled displays of nationalism, but I come around on Canada Day," says Mercer.
"I think it's fantastic that we do it once a year and I think that once is enough," Mercer said from Halifax.
He cites the reaction of Canadian fans to the Talking to Americans segment on the show, in which a straight-faced Mercer exposes Americans' ignorance about Canada, as proof we still define ourselves very much by what we are not.
Once, he convinced Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to congratulate Canada on tape for "preserving its national igloo, housing the parliament of Canada.
"Canadians just when berserk. They loved that," says Mercer.
"I can see why that speaks to Canadians. The same sentiment is summed up in that beer ad and that's why I loved it when I first saw it, too."
Just like beer, the current feeling of national unity probably has an expiration date, Jedwab says. Though a combination of strong economic times and a lack of dire national issues has produced a comfortable period that makes self-reflection natural, all that will inevitably change. How will Canadians feel then?
"There is some relationship between this and the fact that the Quebec crisis has diminished considerably over the last few years -- at least in the view of the people outside Quebec.
"That constant struggle that has been the focus of our national debate has almost paradoxically given us a lot to think about in terms of our nation. It's that kind of struggle you need to achieve nationhood."
But the question of Quebec sovereignty is far from resolved and Molson's very pointedly did not produce a French language version of the Joe Canadian commercial, says Jedwab.
"C'est ne pas Joe le Canadien," he says. "This is like a quick thrill for the year. This doesn't resolve some of the fundamental issues that are out there."
Patel confesses he paid little attention to the last sovereignty debate, though he did feel a certain sense of frustration had gripped the country. His vision of Canada is much closer to home: after years of hard work he owns his cab, he has a son at university and a daughter just entering high school.
"I think we worry too much about big issues," he says. "I'm happy here so I don't want to make anyone else unhappy. If you're happy you shouldn't complain."