Canada: The Disregarded Link

 

 

Willie Drennan

They say whoever wins the war gets to write the history books. This saying probably originated after the American Revolutionary War.  In Ulster we all know the story from the American angle very well. We know of the honourable reasons for the cause of the revolution against the British: the taxation without representation. We know of Tom Paine’s ‘The Rights of Man’ and how the Scotch Irish embraced the Enlightenment and fought for liberty and religious freedom for all. We know all about the heroic deeds of the Ulstermen at Valley Forge, Brandywine and Yorktown.  Us Ulster Scots of today are as proud as can be of our connection with those valiant ‘Sons of Liberty, who inspired the French Revolution and the United Irishmen.  

 

But when you do get to hear the Canadian version of things the plot thickens, the intrigue abounds and the potential lessons for all of us today become apparent.

We’ve always known in Ulster that we have very strong historic ties with Canada: if only because of the extent to which those ties were reinforced in the twentieth century. We haven’t been fed much glorious hype about our connection however: that’s all been kept for the freedom fighting ‘Sons of Liberty’ who were motivated by the independent spirit of the Scotch Irish.

 

Once you look into the Canadian version of things however we soon realise that us Ulster folk have every bit as much a connection with Canada as we have with the USA. One of the largest ethnic groups in the early days of British North America were the Irish and the majority of these were from Ulster, even after the later mass influx of Southern Irish  in the1840’s. Ontario in particular was dominated by Ulster folk with Toronto known as the Belfast of Canada: and for much of the 19^th century and early 20^th century the Lord Mayor of Toronto got to ride a white horse on the Twelfth Day and pretend he was King Billy. The Lord Mayor was often as Orangeman himself as the Orange Order at that time was a massive institution across Canada: from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Now it has to be said that these Orangemen were also English, Scottish, German Protestants, and  Orange politics were related to the politics of Canada: not Ireland. There can be little doubt what ethnic group started up the Orange Order in Canada.  Wherever Loyalists of Ulster descent settled in Canada Orange lodges were formed.

An abbreviated Canadian version of the American Revolution is as follows.  Those who didn’t agree with over throwing British rule in North America were persecuted and force to flee to flee north to the ‘British North America’. 100,000 of them gathered in the last British held port of New York City to be shipped off north of the line that became the Canadian border.  They were called ‘Loyalists’  because they refused to fight the British and participate in the American Revolution. Some would argue though that these Loyalists had also been opposed to the ‘taxation without representation’ imposed by the British authorities on Americans: it’s just that they wanted to sort out the difficulties within the remit of the British Constitution. They didn’t want to go to war to force the change that they believed could well be changed through peaceful diplomatic means. Herein lies the fundamental differences between the American and Canadian mindset ever since.

It is particularly interesting that it is difficult to figure out any difference in background, principles and mindset between the Ulster folk who became Canadians and those who became Americans.  The very first ‘Irish’ settlement in Canada was in Nova Scotia by Ulster folk; many of whom had had forebears who had defended Derry’s Walls during the siege of 1689. Many more Ulster Loyalists settled in New Brunswick, Eastern Townships of Quebec, Ontario and indeed right across the northern shores of the Great Lakes.  They were no softies they were as tough and as dogged as any 18^th century pioneers: the difference was that they fully embraced the notion of liberty and equal opportunity for ALL. Well okay, that’s the same principles that the USA was founded upon but the Canadians didn’t have to go through another horrendous bloody war to get things sorted.

This more tolerant approach to life has been the fundamental difference that continues up to this  present day.  While Canada  lives with the guilt of how their forebears obliterated the indigenous peoples they have certainly, ever since, demonstrated a degree of tolerance that can be matched by  few other nations.

Canada for several generations has been the multicultural showcase of the world. They have dealt with the difficult issues between Loyalists, Francophones, Natives and recent mass immigration in a way that has become the envy of the civilised world. Are their lessons here for the UK as multiculturalism becomes a serious contentious issue? Are their lessons here for Northern Ireland?  Does the Canadian approach to things deserve more attention over here among their distant cousins this side of the Atlantic? Why do the Canadians of Ulster stock think different and do things different than the Americans from the same Ulster stock?

Well shortly after this goes to print I’m off for a visit to the former Loyalist stronghold of British North America. I will explore more of their historical and modern-day approach to multiculturalism and report back on any relevant findings of note in Issue 12 of The Ulster Folk.