University of Victoria - Tower Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

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I O I -K-K ill' By BOB DONALDSON s-42 . By KEN SMITH Professor Lower, Canadian historian and na- tionalist, has described Canada as a successful mediocrity of a country, and the great majority of the Canadian population, having never par- ticipated in any great emotional experience on a national scale capable of arousing them to an awareness of Canada as a nation, or of instil- ling in them a fully developed sense of national pride, would be inclined to agree with this defi- nition. So slow have the majority of Canadians been in manifesting any full appreciation of the high esteem in which their nation is held in world councils, or of the greatness which Canada is capable of achieving in the future, that visit- ing statesmen have remarked on the Canadian lack of awareness and assertiveness. Unfortunately, with the exception of Mac- kenzie and Papineau's somewhat lame and abor- tive attempt at revolt in 1837, Canada has no romantic historical background of revolution to fire the imagination or establish a source of tra- dition. On the contrary, the chronicle of Cana- dian responsibility and autonomy is one of unin- spiring and involved legal procedure, largely W carried out behind the scenes by scholarly gen- tlemen in top hats and striped trousers: a long, drawn-out process which is lacking in appeal to the student, and of which the average citizen has scarcely been aware. So Confederation, long considered one of the greatest feats in con- stitutional history, because the idea evolved slowly and was put into effect gradually, has failed as a means of infusing in Canadians a national spirit. Autonomy, obscured in the legal phraseology of the Statute of Westminster, failed to become a stirring event in Canadian history and tradition, and has remained, instead, to Canadians, nothing more than a parliamentary act completely devoid of any national signifi- cance. Never was this lack of imagination and colour, so prevalent in Canadian politics, more clearly evidenced than during the late war. At that time, with the nation united in a common purpose as it had never been united before, with a large fighting force in existence embodying in concrete form the common aspirations and will of the Canadian people, the govemment failed to capitalize on the opportunity presented to imbue Canadians with a sense of national pride. No patriotic oratory or rallies stirred the public: poster pictures of Churchill and Roose- velt, representing the mother country across the Atlantic and the good neighbor south of the 49th parallel, the two spheres of influence between which Canada has been torn throughout her his- tory, were pressed into service in the absence of any Canadian personality possessing the ne- cessary personal appeal to arouse the public. Another, and perhaps the major factor con- tributing to the absence of a Canadian national sentiment, is the belief that the geographical and cultural diversity of the country ipso facto pro- hibits any real unity. The various geographical characteristics to be found between the Atlantic and the Pacific has divided Canada into five clearly defined areas, each with its own peculiar history and interests, which has made the prob- lem of establishing a common basis of national will and enthusiasm extremely difficult. A gov- ernment policy which is advantageous to the prairie farmer is not necessarily equally satis- factory to the Ontario manufacturer: the two are often in direct conflict: and the interests and back- ground of the two coastal areas, Pacific and Atlantic, vary widely. These differences, how- ever, are basically economic: the most serious diversity lies in the racial issue which exists be- tween the French-speaking and English-speaking elements. Over 100 years ago Durham found two nations at war within the bosom of a single state, and the situation, although improving

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It was not with the savage delight of a barbarian that the old name of the College Yearbook was discarded. It was, in fact, regret- able that a name so ephonic and colourful was no longer in harmony with the setting of Victoria College. In choosing a new name the Yearbook Staff was confronted not only with tradition, but also with the spectre of future students who would certainly not appreciate any haste or thoughtlessness in re- naming the Yearbook. Nevertheless, the difficult step was taken: and the new title will be both pertinent to present surroundings and also sufficiently stimulating to the imaginations of future editors. But, more than that, we hope that The Tower typifies an ideal to which these editors may strive: an ideal of impartiality and faithful report. As the ancient proverb says- A tower is measured by its shadow. As well as an account of the various activities and a gallery of student portraits, a year book should capture the current trends of thought, the prevailing atmosphere of College life, during the year on which it professes to report. That is the goal towards which the editors have strived this year-and reached only in part. It is, after all, nothing new, but the true function of any yearbook. 36

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slowly, is far from remedied. It is in the distinc- tive histories and varying economies of these five Canadas that the seed of the popular and derisive practise of classifying the Canadian population into three such categories as mari- timer, Frenchman and white man is to be found. Yet were this diversity treated with realism and imagination it need not necessarily be a handicap in the Canadian striving for national consciousness, as it has always heretofore been considered: rather it should be realized that this very diversity makes Canada unique among na- tions, a small world within the boundaries of a single country, which offers challenges and ad- vantages as well as disabilities. With a realiza- tion of both their limitations and possibilities there is little reason for Canadians failing to achieve a full sense of nationhood. No one in Canada will ever be heard making a call for exaggerated and aggressive nationalism: Cana- dians are temperamentally unsuited to the role. They are, however, fully equipped to assume a position among the world leaders, a claim which the rational evaluation of their contributions to world affairs will substantiate. No one in Can- ada, for example, will attempt to duplicate such claims as have issued from America and Russia regarding the winning of the war: Canada will make no such expansive claims, but is entitled to expect recognition of the fact that her contri- bution was considerable. lt is necessary for Canadians to make an objective analysis of their own worth and position in order to derive and manifest a proper sense of pride in their own achievements. In this survey of achievement, Canada's rec- ord during and immediately preceding the world war speaks for itself. Assuming the responsi- bility voluntarily, Canada entered the struggle shoulder to shoulder with Britain in 1939, never hesitating or faltering in her obligations until the war had been fought to a successful conclusion. The military record 'of the Canadians was unsur- passed among the combatant nations. Fielding a complete Canadian Army Corps for the first time under Canadian command, her troops fought from Sicily through the Hitler Line, from Normandy through the Scheld to Germany: the Canadian Navy bore the brunt of the Atlantic convoy duty through the most threatening period of the Nazi submarine warp the Canadian gov- ernment accepted responsibility for' carrying through the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, while the Air Force, besides operating its own bomber group and fighter wings, contributed one-third of the aircrew operating out of Britain with the B.A.F. Canadian scientists combined with those of the United States and Britain to form the team which produced the atomic bomb. In supplying her own needs and those of her allies, Canada's industry expanded by fifty per cent between 1942 and 1945 until today, with the war past, Canada is a creditor nation stand- ing to the fore as one of the three greatest trading nations of the world. Canadian agriculture, charged with the task of feeding a beleaguered Britain, fulfilled the obligation without hesitation and, in the months following the war, was pub- licly acclaimed for the manner in which Canada as a nation fulfilled its obligations to UNBBA. Throughout this period, with its ever-present danger of runaway inflation, the Canadian gov- ernment, operating without fanfare, functioned so effectively in its fight to hold the price line as to become the envy of the post-war world. Be- cause of the nation's gradual development, com- pletely devoid of the spectacular, charges are commonly heard of Canadian immaturityy but it is a charge which wilfully disregards both the record and the latent possibilities. The facts of Canadian national life, when woven together to form an integrated tapestry, present an unmis- takable picture of a Canada grown to nation- hood. 'k'k-ki!-K-K . fwx fl x f'- f' tw X 'f L xx XX, X X N 'ff f X tt mx , -34 ff 1 EL .. T .A-xxx . T M . - Congratulations on Your Fine Publication - HOCKING '55 FORBES