Oh Canada, Eh!

“What started out as a dream to showcase the food, music, comedy, and characters of the True North, strong and free, has turned into Canada’s longest running dinner musical.” [Moose Paper, 24th edition, 2017] My husband & I, along with a bus load of seniors, attended the 4560 presentation of this show now in its 24th year - a rollicking musical offering that spans the gauntlet from coureurs de bois to Leonard Cohen, a celebration of Canada's 150th birthday.

While it was well-done by a talented cast, I came away feeling that it was not MY Canada that was on display. Rather it was the Canada of my parents with a few nods to modern songs and celebrities. And for the seniors in the room, it offered a nostalgic, albeit updated look, at the Canada of their formative years. But what about the large number of Grade 8 students celebrating the end of the school year who were also in the audience. What would they take away from it?

Missing was any mention, even a passing nod, to the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people who have been here not for a mere 150 years but for thousands of years. Where was the Underground Railroad from the time of the American Civil War - and this past winter? Other cultures, foods, languages other then French and English, gender and sexual equality, these were all ignored. And I found myself wondering what those students, as well as what the sprinkling of Americans in the audience were thinking of all this….

Since the inception of the show, indeed even before, Canada has changed. The 2011 census showed that for the first time, 19% of the country’s population was non-white. Canada has the largest proportion of foreign-born population of any country in the G8. The same census showed the aboriginal population grew to 1.4M. None of this data was reflected in the show we saw. It was a period piece, showing Canada through the eyes of the conquering first settlers, the French and English for whom the 150th celebrates their truth.

This show is only 24 years old, and yet it is already badly out of touch with the reality of most people living here. What does this say for the church, who in part still wears the costumes from the 4th century and uses the language of 300+ years ago? Could they be out of touch with the majority of people too? The golden rule doesn’t say anything about revering that which is passé, rather it speaks to an everyday attitude: “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence-and that you love your neighbour as you do yourself.” Luke 10:27 [MSG]

Yes, the day was fun… but it wasn’t MY Canada!!

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