Posted on 02/21/2010 8:51:19 AM PST by Chi-townChief
Loud and proud isn't the norm up north, but it's suiting our neighbors well
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Shane Koyczan sat partly hidden in a darkened restaurant booth, and it was probably better that way.
Since his stirring spoken-word performance at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the poet has become a national celebrity. It's hard for him to walk down a street here without being stopped.
''We Are More,'' the poem he recited in front of a worldwide TV audience of 3 billion people, arrived at a time when Canadians are getting comfortable with the idea of saying they indeed are more -- and saying it loudly.
That hasn't always been easy for a country whose top two character traits seem to be politeness and reservedness.
But these Olympics have brought out a patriotism that apparently can't be held down by shyness. Canadian flags are taped to windows all over Vancouver. Canadians are walking the streets clad in red Team Canada clothing. They're singing the national anthem in train stations. Unheard of.
''We're that neighbor next door who never plays his records too loud and is always very quiet, and we decided to have a block party,'' Koyczan said. ''Everyone's invited. Let us turn up our music a little bit.''
On Monday, when skier Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to win a gold medal on Olympic soil, the nation blew out its speakers.
''From one end of the country to the other end, I have never seen anything like what we we've seen since we've been here,'' said Nathalie Lambert, the chef de mission for Canada's Olympic team.
A little nationalism goes far
To get an idea of just how out of character national boosterism is here, one only had to listen to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper. He recently spoke to the British Columbia legislature and let people know it was OK to raise their voices.
''Patriotism as Canadians should not make us feel the least bit shy or embarrassed,'' he said. ''I know that thoughts of grandeur or boisterous displays of nationalism we tend to associate with others. And over the centuries, things have been done around the world in the name of national pride or love of country that would have been better left undone.
''Yet we should never cast aside our pride in a country so incredible ... merely because the notion has sometimes been abused.''
Do you think he might have been referring to Americans? Me, too.
Canadians aren't having any problems adapting to Harper's call to lungs.
''We're not a rally-around-the-flag kind of people,'' said Nafeesa Karim, a reporter for CKNW Radio in Vancouver. ''We wear our maple leafs proudly, but we don't do a big song and dance about it.
''When the Olympic clothing came out, everybody snapped it up. You can't go to any Olympic venue without seeing a sea of red hoodies or a sea of red mittens. It's like we all went to the same closet.
''We don't always sing along to the anthem, but when Alex Bilodeau got the first gold medal on Canadian soil, I had goosebumps. I'm supposed to be a reporter, I'm supposed to stay impartial, but you couldn't help but get caught up in the emotion of the evening.''
Accountable hosts
There have been well-publicized problems at these Games. A fence blocked pedestrians from closely viewing the Olympic cauldron. Poor weather has affected some of the mountain events, and thousands of tickets were canceled because of poor snow. French Canadians complained that their role in the Opening Ceremony was too small. And, of course, the death of a luger cast a pall over the Games.
But unlike the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where organizers and local media were hypersensitive to criticism, Canadians have demanded accountability. The fence around the cauldron was taken down. The International Olympic Committee's contention that the luger's death was his fault was roundly condemned.
Some are calling these Games the worst in Olympic history, and you want to say: Really? Worse than Munich? The British tabloids have gone particularly over the bend because that's what they do.
But something is happening here, something new and fresh, and you can feel it. It's a people embracing its identity and being vocal about it. These are not Canadians looking for attention. These are Canadians looking at each other in wonder.
''It's one of those ideas whose time has come,'' said Koyczan, who was born and raised in the Northwest Territories. ''And there's nothing wrong with a little bit of national pride.''
No, there isn't, especially the way the Canadians do it. Nicely.
As Koyczan's poem says:
some say what defines us is something as simple as 'please' and 'thank you' and as for 'you're welcome' well, we say that, too but we are more than genteel or civilized we are an idea in the process of being realized.
mailto:rmorrissey@suntimes.com
OOPS - sorry.
No biggie. I re-read it, and it could appear that I was on your case, rather than annoyed by an ignorant “journalist”.
No harm, no foul. God Bless.
I agree.
Also, friend of mine has a nephew in Special Olympics. I’d take those over these olympics any day.
This article is a bunch of bull. I was born in Canada but grew-up in the U.S. My cousins have never held back on critizing the U.S. at every chance they could. I love beating Canada, more than anything.
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