Canada C3 expedition forging new path forward
How do you foster patriotic pride without fuelling toxic nationalism? It’s a critical question in the wake of Charlottesville, and other cities grappling with monuments glorifying a racially divided past — both in Canada and the U.S.
A positive example can be found in the Canada C3 expedition — “Patriotism for Dummies.” The trip to Victoria from Toronto by way of the Northwest Passage is just past the halfway mark in its 150-day itinerary.
Some 200 applicants won a spot on the trip led by Students on Ice Foundation. The icebreaker is hosting a mix of youth ambassadors, Indigenous elders, scientists, artists, educators and community leaders from every province and territory.
The expedition was chosen by Canadian Heritage as a Canada 150 Fund signature project. Significant Indigenous participation is a testament to the project’s strong focus on reconciliation.
Scientific and cultural activities emphasize several key themes: diversity and inclusion, the environment, and youth engagement. But reconciliation is “the main thread,” says communications lead Peter Wall, speaking from Lancaster Sound, at the entrance to the Northwest Passage.
The ship stops in Indigenous communities on every leg. It also hosts a travelling Downie/Wenjack Legacy Room. Legacy Rooms across Canada create safe spaces for reconciliation-focused discussions and learning, named for residential school victim Chanie Wenjack.
In early July, the ship docked in Halifax, close to a controversial monument of city founder Edward Cornwallis. As governor of Nova Scotia, Cornwallis issued the infamous “scalping proclamation,” offering a bounty on Mi’kmaq heads.
Last month protesters, unsuccessful in having the statue removed, symbolically covered it with a tarp. Demonstrators returned to the monument Tuesday in solidarity against the racist violence in Charlottesville.
The Cornwallis statue wasn’t part of the Canada C3 itinerary. But it fuelled “a lot of discussions about reconciliation,” says Wall, noting that leg of the journey included Justice Murray Sinclair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and former NWT premier Stephen Kakfwi, founder of Canadians for a New Partnership.
Statues memorializing controversial figures inspire necessary discussions about their place in a country seeking reconciliation. Perhaps better monuments to our future may be found in natural landmarks, such as the colourful rock formations of Akpait National Wildlife Area. It’s one of many unforgettable sights enjoyed by Canada C3 participants, who have seen polar bears and sailed past the Coronation Glacier in Auyuittuq National Park.
The journey is being meticulously chronicled in hopes of engaging Canadians through digital classrooms and social media, fostering cultural understanding and celebrating the country’s natural splendour.
Some photographs are as startlingly beautiful as the images transmitted from space by Col. Chris Hadfield. And for many Canadians, discovering Canada’s north is not unlike seeing our planet from space: an entirely different perspective.
This week the expedition broadcast live from Pond Inlet, Nunavut, where federal, territorial and Inuit leaders signed a memorandum of understanding for a national park at Tallurutiup Imanga, the Inuit name for Lancaster Sound.
It will be Canada’s largest national marine conservation area, protected from offshore exploration and development.
Canada C3 offers a blueprint for national pride: advancing preservation, celebrating diversity and confronting the darker parts of our history to forge a new path forward. write.robin@baranyai.ca