{"id":3893,"date":"1971-06-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1971-06-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/june-1971-vol-52-no-6-canadas-cultural-riches\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T00:46:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T00:46:30","slug":"june-1971-vol-52-no-6-canadas-cultural-riches","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/june-1971-vol-52-no-6-canadas-cultural-riches\/","title":{"rendered":"June 1971 &#8211; VOL. 52, NO. 6 &#8211; Canada&#8217;s Cultural Riches"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">Canada as nation is 104 years old                     in July 1971, but Canada as a place for European settlement                     dates back to 1534 when Jacques Cartier came to our coast                     seeking a seaway to the Orient: he found instead a country                     vast and beautiful beyond his dreams.<\/p>\n<p> When the first settlers came to this land the French and                     the English were already cultured peoples, with ancient roots                     in literature, fine art, music, science and government. They                     had social structures of a high quality.<\/p>\n<p>The increasing mobility of mankind has brought to our shores                     millions of men and women of many other cultures. Today&#8217;s                     Canadians come from more than sixty national families. They                     have not congealed into a uniform mass. As John Murray Gibbon                     said in the introduction to his book <em>Canadian Mosaic<\/em>:                     &#8220;The Canadian people have not lived long enough together to                     be set in their ways&nbsp;&#8230; they have not yet been blended                     into one type.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When he was speaking to Ukrainian-Canadians on one occasion,                     the Governor General, Baron Tweedsmuir, said: &#8220;I want you                     to remember your old Ukrainian traditions ( your beautiful                     handicrafts, your folksongs and dances and your folk legends.                     Your traditions are all valuable contributions toward our                     Canadian culture which must be a new thing created by the                     contributions of all the elements that make up the nation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>We are all kinds of people. The French-speaking Canadians                     have more American generations behind them than any other                     white stock north of the Rio Grande, save only the Spanish.                     Other nationalities have added their quota year after year.                     The vital question to be answered today is: &#8220;Can we get along                     together?&#8221; If we do not reply in the affirmative there is                     no further question to be asked, because we shall not survive.<\/p>\n<h3>Canadian culture<\/h3>\n<p>So we are a mixed aggregation of people in a land of challenge                     and opportunity, facing together problems of wide diversity.                     Just as in the domain of economics every province and district                     must seek to ensure that its electorate enjoys a standard                     of living approaching the Canadian pattern, so it must bring                     its culture into line with that attained in other parts of                     the country.<\/p>\n<p>A country that has geographic, racial, political and economic                     differences may draw itself together and bridge its divisions                     through blending its many cultures. Instead of existing as                     isolated clusters of people in detached provinces and communities                     we become a group of men and women with common interests,                     and culture is the tie that binds.<\/p>\n<p>All the traditions and wisdom of more than threescore ethnic                     groups are becoming common property. We put out our hands                     and help ourselves to what is best, and give in return what                     we have found to be best, and make the resulting combination                     available to everyone.<\/p>\n<p>The Japanese Gardens at Lethbridge were built by the city                     as a tribute to the Japanese people of Southern Alberta. At                     the same time, the style and design of the gardens themselves                     represent a contribution to Canada from the ancient cultural                     heritage of Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Canada has been engaged in one of the world&#8217;s most successful                     experiments in cultural blending. Our purpose is to provide                     a society in which the people, by free consent, dwell together                     in unity. This means, as Arnold J. Toynbee wrote in <em>A Study                     of History<\/em>: &#8220;the far-reaching adjustments and concessions                     without which this ideal cannot be realized in practice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Canada does not aspire to be a Utopia of the storybook sort.                     A perusal of most books about Utopias shows life there to                     be intolerably dull. The kind of country we desire is one                     sparkling with the different precious stones contributed by                     all kinds of people and lively with the colour of many national                     customs.<\/p>\n<p>Just as a deck of cards, made up of different symbols and                     colours, provides the framework of a meaningful game, so the                     sixty ethnic cultures spread across the continent go together                     to give Canadians a game of life that is significant and pleasurable.<\/p>\n<p>Through the bond of a common culture Canada can become a                     fraternity co-operating in the interests of the common weal.                     A sense of collective Canadianism does not imply the doctrine                     of national uniformity. Hugh MacLennan said at a Conference                     of the Canadian Institute on Public Affairs: &#8220;A Canadian culture                     grows out of the Canadian experience.&#8221; We try out the cultures                     brought from other lands for fit and quality, and accept them                     in such measure as rational judgment tells us will give the                     truest satisfaction to all citizens.<\/p>\n<p>This is a country-wide process. Just as there is no provincial                     right to default on a national duty, so there is no right                     of factions to obstruct the growth of a beneficent national                     culture.<\/p>\n<h3>What culture is<\/h3>\n<p>The word &#8220;culture&#8221; suffers from the fact that it, like the                     word &#8220;democracy&#8221;, means different things to different people.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Culture&#8221; has 164 known definitions, but the one accepted                     by the Duke of Edinburgh&#8217;s Second Commonwealth Study Conference,                     held in Canada in 1962, is simple and inclusive: &#8220;Culture                     is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,                     morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits                     acquired by a man as a member of society.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The permanent interests of our country are served by culture,                     because our culture colours our actions in every sphere of                     life. Affluence is made more enjoyable, and adversity is more                     bearable, if people are cultured. Its growth is both an art                     to be enjoyed and a necessity for survival. Unless we continue                     to rise culturally we sink to a lower level in the animal                     scale. In fact, as Albert Einstein said in <em>Out of My Later                     Years<\/em>, without culture the very basis for believing in                     the need for the existence of the human race will vanish.<\/p>\n<p>Being cultured does not mean that we have to love everybody                     or support everybody&#8217;s ideas of refinement, or worship at                     everybody else&#8217;s totem, but only that we develop personally                     and learn to get along with other people. No culture can exist                     except in a society of men and women, and no society can operate                     without cultural directives.<\/p>\n<p>Although there are some surface ripples, deep down most                     Canadians share the same values. They encourage the development                     of personal characteristics and patterns of behaviour upon                     which the people of Canada look favourably.<\/p>\n<p>The democratic system depends for its fullest success upon                     more than having the right to vote. It requires participation                     in things of the mind.<\/p>\n<p>To brush off culture in the spirit: &#8220;I&#8217;m a plain man&#8221; is                     to indulge in inverted snobbery. Civilization is more a process                     of the intellect and spirit than a product of technology and                     politics. This does not mean that we must all read classical                     literature in the original languages, or that we can date                     the Old Masters&#8217; paintings, or recognize an aria from an opera,                     but it does exhort us to enlarge our intelligence so that                     we appreciate these things. There are profound opportunities                     for culture open to ordinary people in commonplace circumstances.<\/p>\n<h3>Social sense<\/h3>\n<p>Social sense is developed when we learn to cherish and practise                     the beliefs that contribute to the welfare of society. This                     is not acquired by law or rule. One great impediment to the                     spirit of cultural growth is the demagogue who teaches that                     social sense, which is agreement upon what is best for the                     people, can be imposed by legislation. Winston Churchill dismissed                     this idea in a speech in the House of Commons: &#8220;Parliament                     can compel people to obey or to submit, but it cannot compel                     them to agree.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cultured social sense includes thinking of the sensibilities                     as well as the good of others. Owen Rutter tells in <em>The                     Travels of Tiadatha <\/em>how a traveller was welcomed in Formosa.                     Strange foods were placed in front of him, &#8220;each in a porcelain                     bowl with cover, so that if you didn&#8217;t like it, nobody could                     see you&#8217;d left it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Culture plays a big part in effective living. People can                     dwell together under an extraordinary variety of conditions                     if they are motivated by the same cultural urges, enjoying                     harmony, frankness and loyalty. Canada seeks to be, in Rebecca                     West&#8217;s description of what a nation should be: &#8220;A shelter                     where all talents are generously recognized, and all forgivable                     oddities forgiven.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Isocrates, the orator and teacher, saw unity as the only                     condition upon which Greece could keep freedom and independence                     in company of a powerful neighbour. The philosopher of today                     sees in culture the hope of maintaining harmony in a state                     that has many nationalities represented in its population,                     and preserving its independence in the midst of more populous                     and mighty nations.<\/p>\n<p>Culture does not demand that we leave undusted the antique                     customs. It is a living, forward-moving thing, not a sort                     of ballet following an automatic pattern in which the faces                     of the performers show no evidence of thinking or emotion.<\/p>\n<p>To be cultured is to have a tendency to prefer a better                     kind of object or thought rather than one that is inferior,                     and to try to improve upon it. Traditions and arts brought                     by their forefathers inspire and guide today&#8217;s descendants                     so that they meet the demands of this new age with the most                     excellent ideals of yesterday and today in their minds.<\/p>\n<h3>Our family tree<\/h3>\n<p>There is no excuse for Canadians to be people whose lives                     and hopes and contributions to culture move in small circles.                     Canadians speak in many tongues, they go to many churches,                     they have many customs, they are a cross-section of humanity.                     The ethnic groups supplement one another in adding to Canada&#8217;s                     culture. To accept what they proudly offer is to become compassionately                     understanding of our relationship to one another.<\/p>\n<p>All these individuals are in some respect different. As                     Emerson put it: &#8220;Nature never rhymes her children, nor makes                     two men alike.&#8221; All have good qualities of mind and skill                     to bestow. In return, Canada provides the opportunity for                     free trade in ideas. Many people come to this country because                     of restraint upon action and suppression of opinions in their                     homelands. They seek here the peace from factional disputes                     and the security in which they will work out their yearning                     for happy lives.<\/p>\n<p>Not all those who have culture to contribute are recent                     arrivals. Some have lived here all their lives, the descendants                     of people who came to Canada centuries ago. They have held                     fast to, and kept alive, and brought to maturity, beliefs                     and customs that were handed down in their homelands for thousands                     of years.<\/p>\n<p>These people have folkways and mores. The folkways are the                     habitual ways a people has of carrying on the ordinary activities                     of living together. The mores are those folkways which are                     believed to have a bearing upon the welfare of the group.                     The preservation of folkways in the small group should be                     encouraged as earnestly as development of the mores in the                     large group of which they form part.<\/p>\n<p>Civilization is impossible without tradition. Tradition                     is a set of values based on religious, cultural and social                     beliefs transmitted from generation to generation. It is the                     experience and the lessons of the past, handed down through                     centuries, that combine to make us civilized.<\/p>\n<p>These traditions have come to Canada in diversified abundance.                     About thirty per cent of Canada&#8217;s population is of neither                     French nor British origin. <em>The Canadian Family Tree <\/em>(Canadian                     Citizenship Branch, Ottawa, 1967; available through the Queen&#8217;s                     Printer and government bookshops) tells about 47 ethnic groups                     in the Canadian family. <em>Canadian Mosaic, The Making of                     a Northern Nation<\/em>, by John Murray Gibbon (McClelland and                     Stewart Ltd., Toronto, 1938) has 450 descriptive pages, with                     27 colour plates and 108 black and white illustrations.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the distinguished roll-call of the ancestry of Canada&#8217;s                     people:<\/p>\n<table width=\"415\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"smltabletxt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Afghans<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Egyptians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Italians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Algerians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">English<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Japanese<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Americans<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Eskimos<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Jewish community<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Armenians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Estonians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Jordanese<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Austrians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Finns<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Latvians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Belgians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">French<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Lebanese<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Bulgarians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Germans<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Libanese<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Byelorussians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Greeks<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Lithuanians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Chinese<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Hungarians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Macedonians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Croats<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Icelanders<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Maltese<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Czechs<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Indians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">M\u00e9tis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Danes<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Irakians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Moroccans<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Dutch<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Iranians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Norwegians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">East Indians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Irish<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Pakistanis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Poles<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Slovaks<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Tunisians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Portuguese<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Slovenes<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Turks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Roumanians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Spanish<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Ukrainians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Russians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Swedish<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Welsh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Scots<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Swiss<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">West Indians<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Serbs<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">Syrians<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Helping newcomers<\/h3>\n<p>Our honour puts us under the obligation to make room for                     people of all beliefs, not alone space in the form of land                     but space in our minds and lives.<\/p>\n<p>We can make a grace of hospitality by our friendly attitude                     and by sincerely seeking to understand their problems. Applying                     the Golden Rule is very far from shoving what one thinks is                     good for them down other men&#8217;s throats. A cultured person                     takes note of one of G. B. Shaw&#8217;s sayings: &#8220;Do not do unto                     others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes                     may not be the same.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy toward the beliefs and habits of others is part                     of civilization. Considerations of manner and demeanour and                     respect are not to be overlooked as being frivolous or unimportant.                     They are essential components in the life and happiness of                     every citizen.<\/p>\n<h3>Receptiveness<\/h3>\n<p>One distinction of a cultured man is the degree of his open-mindedness.                     We do injustice to our own minds if we do not encourage them                     to examine other people&#8217;s views and beliefs. However well                     informed we may be, we have not the right to assume that all                     people who have other views than ours, or different customs,                     are foolish or wrong.<\/p>\n<p>To be cultured means meeting others in reciprocal respect.                     This requires communication and the exchange of ideas, thus                     giving ourselves and others a chance to enlarge mutual understanding.                     It means opening our eyes and our ears and our minds so that                     we stop carrying around a burden of wrong notions and fancies.                     It asks us to avoid chauvinism, which is extravagant pride                     in our own beliefs with corresponding disdain of other notions.                     This does not call upon us to indulge in passionate mutual                     admiration, but it does include an enlightened toleration,                     which is an inherent part of democracy.<\/p>\n<p>There is a personal mental health consideration involved,                     as well as a social obligation. It is disastrous to our emotional                     tranquillity to harbour a dislike for people because they                     hold different opinions, even though their beliefs seem to                     be eccentric. We can lead more effective and more serene lives,                     if we apply our minds to understanding our whole society and                     not only our own corner of it.<\/p>\n<p>Free discussion is an important ingredient in this understanding.                     An ideal society would be the civilization of the dialogue,                     a dialogue about the development of society in which every                     culturally-educated person would take part without heat, discussing                     common problems. In a true dialogue people may agree pleasantly,                     or they may pleasantly agree to differ.<\/p>\n<p>A group is not cultured if the principal purpose of their                     being together is to share their prejudices, those unreasonable                     prepossessions for or against anything.<\/p>\n<p>A civilized man sympathizes with other civilized men no                     matter where they where born or in what part of the country                     they live, or what their profession or job may be. He knows                     that making friends is an essential part of being human, and                     that being part of a nation involves him in association with                     all other citizens. Ours is inescapably a co-operative society.                     We all need all the others if we are to survive.<\/p>\n<h3>We need kinship<\/h3>\n<p>Sam Walter Foss wrote about people who live withdrawn in                     the peace of their self-content, but his poem points out that                     no individual can enjoy a rewarding life as a hermit. Everyone                     needs kinship with other people if he is to unfold his personality.                     When a bar of gold is put in close contact with a bar of silver                     and the two bars are pressed together for several months,                     and then separated, some gold can be found inside the silver                     bar and some silver inside the gold bar. Selig Hecht tells                     us in <em>Explaining the Atom <\/em>(Viking Press, 1947): &#8220;Particles                     of gold and silver have migrated across the boundary.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Shared involvement and reciprocity in goodwill provide us                     with the only sound law by which to live in society. A caste                     system, whether founded upon racial origin, language, customs                     or profession, is an enormous enemy of national culture.<\/p>\n<p>No matter in what part of the country they settle, or in                     what size community they live, newcomers become Canadians.                     The smallest hamlet may boast: &#8220;I am part of Canada&#8221;, and                     its people may follow the pattern set by the Emperor Marcus                     Aurelius Antoninus when he declared: &#8220;My city and my country,                     so far as I am Antoninus, is Rome, but so far as I am a man,                     it is the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Compromise and adaptation are needed between people of different                     backgrounds when they come together. Some of the differences                     will be assimilated harmoniously, while others will survive                     in a way that prevents standardization of the nation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is good&#8221;, said a commission on minority groups, &#8220;to                     encourage the existence of different traditions, cultures,                     religions, and backgrounds, provided that the people concerned                     adhere to fundamental Canadian patterns.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the second Commonwealth Study Conference, held in 1962,                     the Right Honourable Vincent Massey, Governor General, said:                     &#8220;We are a plural community made up of two major, and many                     minor, cultural groups. There is no distinct, uniform, and                     overwhelming Canadian way of life into which new-comers are                     expected to be caught up and reshaped. Differences are welcomed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The individual and the family<\/h3>\n<p>Canada will continue beyond our little span of life, but                     it will absorb and carry into the future what we contribute                     individually to its character and culture. Culture allows                     everyone to share in his own intellectual and spiritual development,                     and to play a part in that of his country.<\/p>\n<p>The family is the most important unit in shaping culture.                     The domestic hearth is the centre around which the necessities                     of warmth, comfort and food are satisfied, and it is also                     the place where companionship is fostered and enjoyed and                     where culture starts.<\/p>\n<p>It is the family spirit that will hold Canada together.                     It recognizes differences between its children, it makes room                     for varying progress in knowledge and wisdom, it allows variety                     of desire, ambition and action, but it stands firm for its                     integrity as a functioning unit in making all these possible.<\/p>\n<p>People derived from numerous nationalities may look back                     to the golden age of their ancestors, but the young people                     now in Canadian homes have the opportunity and invitation                     to make a new golden age. Culture gives them an option on                     the future and the privilege of fashioning ideals for that                     future.<\/p>\n<p>Canada&#8217;s cultural destiny may be a vague and disputable                     outline, like the edges of our country where the surf and                     the rocks and the sand-banks are mingled with the sea and                     the sky. Looking at the map of Canada&#8217;s past as at that of                     any country ancient or modern, we see smooth, uneventful plateaus,                     some depressions and ravines, and a few notable pinnacles.                     Such is the cultural future. Progress may be slow and fitful,                     but it can be made certain by the co-operative endeavour of                     citizens.<\/p>\n<h3>Members one of another<\/h3>\n<p>If we have one obstacle that offers more impediment than                     another, it is our taking for granted the values and benefits                     of our Canadian way of life. This free society, eminent in                     the world because of its individual freedoms and its great                     opportunities for self-advancement and the sense of security                     it provides to ease men&#8217;s minds, was gained by the struggles                     and sacrifices and intelligence of the men and women from                     whom we inherit it, and expanded through three centuries by                     their descendants. Our culture, inherited and brought into                     being, is what prompts us to view with sorrow the discordant                     mass of unrest in the world and to impose order on our own                     lives.<\/p>\n<p>We need to preserve the commendable qualities and traditions                     that every racial group has brought to Canada, and to refrain                     from improvising a &#8220;modern&#8221; sophistication based upon the                     doings in other countries. Thereby we erect a Canadian culture                     that gives evidence that we form a viable nation, with citizens                     who feel that they belong to it in a fraternity that recalls                     the eloquent phrase used by St. Paul: &#8220;We are members one                     of another.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[51],"class_list":["post-3893","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-51"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>June 1971 - VOL. 52, NO. 6 - Canada&#039;s Cultural Riches - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/june-1971-vol-52-no-6-canadas-cultural-riches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"June 1971 - VOL. 52, NO. 6 - Canada&#039;s Cultural Riches - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Canada as nation is 104 years old in July 1971, but Canada as a place for European settlement dates back to 1534 when Jacques Cartier came to our coast seeking a seaway to the Orient: he found instead a country vast and beautiful beyond his dreams. 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