How to Give Meaning to Canadian Citizenship
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Authors
Kent, Tom
Date
2008
Type
working paper
Language
en
Keyword
Alternative Title
Abstract
The desperation of the 1930s apart, and even despite the fluctuating Quebec divide since the 1970s, Canadians have hitherto succeeded rather well in satisfying the diversity of our continent-wide needs and aspirations. Today, however, there is an unmistakable sense of political inadequacy. In face of the crucial economic, environmental and social challenges of the time, our collective action has become faltering. Clear national needs are neglected, not from lack of awareness but because no coherent national will is directed to them.
There is much that we could do better, a good deal that no doubt we will correct. But how much, how soon, depends greatly on what is most fundamental to common action, on our citizenship. No democratic political unit, nation or province or city, thrives without some widely shared sense of community, of some things done differently because they are done together. Without that, action for the common good is submerged in conflicts of interest and differences of opinion.
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© IIGR, Queen's University
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Publisher
Queen's University Institute of Intergovernmental Relations