KPU instructors weigh in on Canada Day

Canada Day, a federal statutory holiday, is celebrated every year on July 1 to commemorate the Confederation of Canada. 

The Runner spoke with Kwantlen Polytechnic University geography and environment instructor John Rose and Indigenous studies department chair Allison Hotti, who shared their views on the Canada Day’s significance and its impact on education, politics, and everyday life. 

For Rose, Canada Day is an opportunity to remember and reflect on the different stages the country has gone through. 

Rose says that the benefits of living in Canada might often be taken for granted, so Canada Day is a good opportunity to set aside differences and celebrate being Canadian.

“[We are] not a perfect society … but one that is comparatively speaking, a peaceful, democratic, [and] prosperous place in the world,” Rose says.

Hotti, who is originally from Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia and is registered at the Halfway River First Nation on Treaty 8 Territory, says she has mixed feelings about the holiday. 

While on one hand, she wants to be proud to be a Canadian — especially when she sees the Canadian maple leaf on her son’s clothes — she was sent from her family to a white family when she was born. Canada Day, for her, brings back memories of the atrocities that were committed in the making of the country. 

“On the worldwide stage, we’re really held in high regard, and it does not reflect the atrocities that happened to create our country.”

Speaking about the changing meaning and perception of Canada Day among Canadians, Rose says recently there has been a strengthening of national resilience in the face of external threats from the United States. 

While the question of the appropriateness of the celebration has increased over the past few years, looking at the last year, he says there has been a rise in Canadian nationalism. 

Hotti’s perception of Canada Day shifted after the discovery of about 200 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021.

“There was always lots of celebrating and a parade. Then, after that coming into prominence, just the atrocities became more real to me,” she says.

Before Canada moves towards reconciliation, Hotti says, it is important to understand and speak the truth about the country’s history. The truth, she says, needs to be included within school districts and post-secondary curriculum to be made common knowledge. 

Rose says the long-term impact of Canadian nationalism, which has been clearly expressed over the past year, is complex and open ended and also depends heavily on domestic and foreign policy. 

Speaking about his experience teaching topics related to Canadian history, Rose tries not to impose any one point of view on his students to instill a sense of belonging to Canada, but is guided by an analytical teaching method. 

From her teaching experience, Hotti says that over one semester of her course, students’ worldviews on Canadian history change dynamically. While international students might have high expectations of Canada as a progressive nation, once they start learning about the country’s history, their perspectives change. 

Hotti says its non-Indigenous allies who can change the course of events. 

“It’s going to be the people who benefit from this system as it is that will take it up and dismantle it.” 

Hotti says she often faces racism, adding that fighting for one’s equity and equality is necessary not only on Canada Day but every day.

“I’m split. When we look at what Canada Day is, it’s the day we created the country. And I just don’t believe it was created with my best interest in mind and my people’s best interest in mind,” she says.