2 Which Canada am I in?

Which Canada am I in?

Is it the Canada that says, “Welcome!” “Bienvenue!” “欢迎!” or “歡迎!” at the arrival gate of the YVR airport?

In that Canada, the customs officer stamps my passport and gives me the “go ahead” to step on Canadian soil.

It is a Canada of generosity and hospitality.

 

Which Canada am I visiting?

Is it the Canada where I meet young people from all over the globe?

In that Canada, countries on the world map no longer remain abstract but become personified in the new friends that I made in the first week.

It is a Canada of multiculturalism par excellence.

 

Which Canada am I exploring?

Is it the Canada that boasts its magnificence in its natural landscape?

In that Canada, I follow the tour guide’s instructions to marvel at the Rocky Mountains and the blue lakes.

It is a Canada of serenity and grandeur.

 

Which Canada am I studying?

Is it the Canada of intellectual brilliance, offering world-class education in its campuses and classrooms?

In that Canada, I task myself to learn about the “Canadian” way of seeing the world.

It is a Canada that embodies development and progress.

 

Which Canada am I celebrating?

Is it the Canada where racial minorities thrive in every field of endeavour?

In that Canada, the son of previously persecuted immigrants becomes a symbol of empowerment for ‘multicultural’ communities.^[1]

It is a Canada of dreams coming true.

 

Which Canada am I admiring?

Is it the Canada embodying an unmatched integrity amongst all states with a troubled past?

In that Canada, an Indigenous woman finally assumes the role of Governor-General.

It is a Canada where the great Reconciliation project is slowly but surely moving forward.

 

Which Canada am I cheering for?

Is it the Canada famous for its True North sporting prowess?

In this Canada, I saw a painting of Wayne Gretzky in the university seminar room.

It is a Canada where the stories of Sharon Firth, Wilton Littlechild, Waneek Horn-Miller, and Alwyn Morris are less fancied by the sports channels.

 

Which Canada am I travelling through?

Is it the Canada where the Pacific Railway was built with the sweat and blood of Chinese workers who, upon completion of the project, were forced to leave?

In that Canada, a century after 《排華法案》,^[2] migrant labour remains largely inexpensive and disposable.^[3]

It is a Canada where its modernized look and hospitality have a menacing underneath.

 

Which Canada am I making my home?

Is it the Canada where impoverished urban neighborhoods lie next to the high-rises of the central business districts?

In that Canada, while finding a shelter in the freezing winter months remains challenging for some, living has become increasingly unaffordable for many.

It is a Canada of relentlessness.

 

Which Canada am I paying tax for?

Is it the Canada where the richest 20% of households control more than two-thirds of its wealth?^[4]

In that Canada, dozens of First Nations communities are still under boil-water advisories.^[5]

It is a Canada of polarity and contradiction.

 

Which Canada am I taking for granted?

Is it the Canada where the pursuit of profit trumps the well-being of land and people?

In that Canada, Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people continue to go “missing” and are murdered.

It is a Canada where the “reconciliation” project has been pronounced “dead.”^[6]

 

Which Canada am I benefiting from?

Is it the Canada that is the home for the majority of mining corporations in the world?
In that Canada, the lucrative business of mining devastates peoples and ecologies in Central America.

It is a Canada of secondary imperialism.^[7]

 

Which Canada am I educated about?

Is it the Canada that closed its last residential school in 1996?

In this Canada, schools remain a potent weapon of cultural assimilation.

It is a Canada where international students, seen by some as “cash cows,” are deprived of chances to learn about Louis Riel, MMIWG, Oka, or the Sixties Scoop.

 

Which Canada am I encroaching upon?

Is it the Canada where treaties remain valid between the Crown and the Indigenous Nations?

In this Canada, I am not asked to follow protocols for entering the territories of another nation at the airport.

It is a Canada where visitors like me are positioned to be ‘good’ participants in its project – a project of colonialism.^[8]

 

Which Canada am I in?

Which Canada do I see?

Which Canada will I accept?

Which Canada will I reject?

 

---

References

Ansloos, J. (2023). Hydrocolonial affects: Suicide and the somatechnics of long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations in Canada. Somatechnics, 13(2), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.3366/soma.2023.0403

Chen, C. (2021a). Football legend, role model, cultural ambassador, and true Canadian? A critical reading of the mediated legacy of Norman Kwong, the ‘China Clipper.’ International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 56(7), 943–961. https://doi.org/10.1177/101269022096934

Chen, C. (2021b). (Un)Making the international student a settler of colour: A decolonising autoethnography. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(5), 743–762. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2020.1850513

Gordon, T., & Webber, J. R. (2019). Canadian capital and secondary imperialism in Latin America. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 25(1), 72–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/11926422.2018.1457966

Statistics Canada. (2023). Distributions of household economic accounts for income, consumption, saving and wealth of Canadian households, fourth quarter 2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230331/dq230331b-eng.htm

UnistotenCamp. (2020). Reconciliation is dead: RCMP invade Unist’ot’en Territory [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgfVO6U5QuA

Walia, H. (2010). Transient servitude: Migrant labour in Canada and the apartheid of citizenship. Race & Class, 52(1), 71-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396810371766