I Am Canadian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg

When I first had the lecture about Canadian identity, the first thing that came to my mind was the Canadian beer commercial. If you follow the link above, you will instantly know what it is since it's probably one of the most famous ad that presents Canadianness. Basically, a young man named "Joe" powerfully declares what it means to be a real Canadian. He points out extreme and somewhat ridiculous Canadian stereotypes such as being a lumberjack or living in igloo, and then corrects them with real Canadian characteristics. In his speech, I could see both positive and negative identities we talked about in class. For example, he distinguishes Canada from America in that Canadians speak English and French, not American, that Canada has a prime minister, not a president, and that Canada believes in peacekeeping, not policing like the US. Also, he mentions positive aspects such as Canada has diversity (multiculturalism) not simulation, hockey as national sport, beaver etc. Joe in the ad shows strong enthusiasm about and pride of being a Canadian, not American, and this definitely promotes viewers' patriotic sentiment as well. For this reason, I think this commercial, even though it became somewhat cliche, is the best illustration of the essence of Canadian national identity.