Andrew Cohen

The Unfinished Canadian

Date Recorded: Nov 10th, 2007
Recorded At: Ottawa, Ontario
Recorded By: TV Ontario's Big Ideas programme, tvo.org/bigideas
Duration: 59:30  
 

Topic Background

Taking from his book, the Carleton University journalism professor asks why Canada is so reluctant to understand and commemorate her accomplishments, and so content to forget her past. He ponders questions of national character, and delves into our past and present in search of our defining national characteristics. He argues that we are the product of many different forces, including our political culture of moderation and ambiguity, and that we have a lack of memory with regards to our history.

Cohen breaks down Canada’s identity into different facets – The Unconscious Canadian who knows nothing of history; the American Canadian, who holds onto great myths of national differences; the Casual Canadian, who is flippant about the responsibilities of citizenship; and the Capital Canadian, who is indifferent about Canada’s lacklustre capital city.

In this lecture Cohen argues that our mythology, our jealousy, our complacency, our apathy, our amnesia, and our moderation are all part of being Canadian.

The talk was originally broadcast on TV Ontario's Big Ideas programme in November, 2007. More information at www.tvo.org/bigideas.

Speaker Biography