Latest news with #CanadianPride
CTV News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
National pride on Canada Day
Ottawa residents displayed their Canadian pride on Canada Day, dismissing talk of Canada as the 51st U.S. state. CTV's Josh Marano reports.
CBC
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
WATCH — Kids share their wish for the country on Canada Day
Hear from teens in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia Happy birthday to Canada! The country turns 158 today. But how do people feel about the Great White North? In recent years, Canada Day has been a little controversial, with some people choosing not to celebrate over the country's troubled history with residential schools and other hurtful parts of the past. But this year, we've seen more Canadian pride than we have in a long time. That might have something to do with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to make Canada a 51st state. WATCH — Could Canada become the 51st U.S. state? Some Canadians boycotted American products, others booed American sports teams. We asked kids and teens in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta, to make a wish before they blow out the birthday candles. Press play to hear kids make a wish for Canada on Canada Day. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ A nod to Canadian animals Kids News contributor Zachary Morin decided to have a bit of fun in Montreal. He asked kids to make the sound of a Canadian animal. Then he tried to guess the animal. Watch to see if Zach nailed his Canadian animal sounds. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Want to hear from more Canadian kids and teens? Check out these streeter videos: WATCH — Struggling to find a job this summer? You aren't alone WATCH — Are things feeling more expensive? Kids weigh in on prices WATCH — Canadian kids tell us what they really think about their hometown
CTV News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Will this be the most patriotic Canada Day ever?
The Canadian flag will be flown high this Canada Day holiday, after repeated threats made by U.S. president Trump to make Canada the 51st state. Oh, Canada. For years, the world has viewed our country in a certain light. Terms like polite, kind and nice come to mind. But between tariffs and annexation talk, Canada's evolving relationship with the United States seems to be changing attitudes, not just about Americans, but how we view our own country as well. Research released from the Environics Institute suggests Canadian pride and optimism is spiking in the months following the inauguration of U.S president Donald Trump. 'The sense of being proud to be Canadian was getting more muted,' Andrew Parkin, executive director of the Environics Institute told CTV News Toronto. Environics surveyed nearly 2,000 Canadians in May 2025. A key finding noted a significant rise in nationalism following what Environics described as a 'bottoming out' that began with COVID-19 lockdowns, culminating in September 2024. 'There was a 20 point drop in that strong feeling of national pride from 73 to 53 per cent over a few years. Now, that doesn't mean that half of the country didn't feel proud to be Canadian, right? They felt somewhat proud or they weren't sure,' explained Parkin. 'Up to 86 per cent of Canadians (now) say they feel somewhat proud to be Canadian. And there's a boost in the proportion who feel very proud.' The sense of national pride fluctuates according to region, with only 46 per cent of Quebecers describing themselves as 'very proud' compared to 67 per cent of other Canadians. Ontario and the Atlantic provinces reported the highest levels of patriotism. And while the numbers paint a rosy picture in some respects, Parkin says Canadians' opinions about the overall direction of the country remain lukewarm, at best. 'There's still more people who are dissatisfied than satisfied. We are more satisfied than we were last year. But it didn't flip completely. We didn't go from worried about inflation, worried about national unity to suddenly being not worried about any of these things. We know that political dissatisfaction affects these numbers. So if the new government is not successful at recharging the Canadian economy, and with some other issues, these numbers can go up and down.'
CBC
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Degrassi, MuchMusic and the North American house hippo: Artist draws 100 symbols of Canadiana
From the classic symbols like the beaver and a Tim Horton's cup, to more niche Canadian references like bagged milk and the North American house hippo, Calgary-based artist Lynne Rennie is piecing together a "cultural mosaic" of Canadian-ness — one drawing at a time. "I am very interested in how symbols create a shared sense of identity, not just for products or hockey teams, but also for countries as well," she said. Her artwork series called Drawn to Canada explores what a national Canadian brand looks like, with drawings completed within an hour and shared to social media every day for 100 days. And the timing of her project is no coincidence. "With the current geopolitical climate, I was frankly thrilled that I could see our entire country lean into Canadianisms, being proud of being Canadian because we were threatened," Rennie said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's 51st state comments. Anne MacLennan, an associate professor at York University in the department of communication and media studies, describes this uptick in Canadian pride as "defensive nationalism" — a desire to assert that Canadians really are "Canadian," and definitely not American. "When we get a serious pushback like this, this is when there's a rise in Canadian identity. This is when [Canadians] push back when they're told they're the same as Americans. That's when people say, 'No, no, no, Canadians are like this,'" MacLennan said. Rennie also credits Canadian actor Mike Myers's "elbows up" gesture on Saturday Night Live back in March as a "catalyst" for this wave of pro-Canadian nostalgia and sentiment, proving just how powerful a symbol can be. "All of a sudden, people knew exactly what he was talking about," she said of Myers's hockey reference. "When you're backed into the corner, you come out swinging. You don't start the fight, but you defend yourself when you're threatened." WATCH | The symbolic gesture that stirred up Canadian pride: #TheMoment 'Elbows Up' became a rally cry against Trump 4 months ago Duration 1:23 In response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, Canadian actor Mike Myers may have started a movement by pointing to his elbow and mouthing the words 'elbows up' during appearances on Saturday Night Live. The phrase has caught on and has become a rallying cry in the trade war. Degrassi makes its mark Another symbol in Rennie's collection of Canadiana: Degrassi, the much-beloved television franchise which followed children and, later, teens navigating their lives in Toronto. Linda Schuyler, the original show's co-creator and executive producer said she was delighted to see Degrassi make the list, as people have often told her, "Degrassi is like Tim Horton's. It's one of those just quintessentially Canadian things." Schuyler said Canadian values like embracing diversity were "hard-baked" into the Degrassi franchise, and it's one of the things she's most proud of. "There's such an unease about what is going on in the United States right now. And the manner in which this whole diversity and inclusion and equity is being dealt with. It is the antithesis of what we as Canadians believe. "Our big mantra on the show was to help reassure young people that they are not alone. It didn't matter what your cultural background is, what your skin colour is … it was an inclusive world that we were building," she said. The unapologetically Canadian franchise gained fans internationally, with Schuyler receiving fan mail from all over the world. In a storyline from Degrassi Junior High, when the character Spike became pregnant, Schuyler recalls people sending the show stuffed toys and baby blankets — a moment that helped her see how the show really resonated with people. Meet The Kids of Degrassi Street 40 years ago Duration 1:54 CBC visits the garages and back alleys of east-end Toronto in 1985 to see how the show operates. MuchMusic, much impact For George Stroumboulopoulos, MuchMusic's inclusion in Rennie's project is a no-brainer. The broadcaster and former VJ on the music channel said, "MuchMusic is a crucial part of Canadian storytelling and Canadian identity, and has been for decades." First airing in 1984, the channel was called "Canada's answer to MTV." Featuring charming VJ hosts with an obvious passion for music, Much reached the entire country from its studio space at 299 Queen St. W. in Toronto. "It was about making the best stuff for music fans and it was keeping kids company across the country who weren't connected otherwise," he said. "I was up in Nunavut, and I would meet kids who had never left Baffin Island and they had a connection to the rest of the country in a way that felt genuine." MuchMusic was also a launching pad for many artists. Musicians like Alanis Morissette and Barenaked Ladies came through its halls before becoming household names. Stroumboulopoulos described it as "lightning in a bottle." With no Teleprompters or studios, the team shot their shows from their workspace and prioritized their relationship with the audience. "It was just a weird kind of punk rock experience and you can't help but be authentic when you're doing that," he said. "I would come in in the morning, start working on that show for the day. Suddenly I'd hear a drum set being tuned up and it would be the guys in the Foo Fighters would be in there getting rehearsing.… You have to walk by them to get to the bathroom, like it was just madness all the time. "There had never been anything like that and there hasn't been anything since like that," he said. "A lot of the things that are touchstones for Canada, people come up with fairly consistent ideas about what makes Canada 'Canadian.' And, one of the things is our media," said MacLennan. Mr. Dressup, Casey, and Finnegan, Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip, and Cirque de Soleil are some of the other media references included in Rennie's project. The complexity of exploring a national identity While MacLennan said there are some symbols that speak to the country's national identity, she made it clear that it can't necessarily be all-encompassing, as Canada is vastly diverse, containing numerous visions of Canadian identities. "There's always different points in Canada: regional politics, regional identities, different concerns across ... It's a large country. There's all kinds of things that have to be integrated. So there's a push and pull in Canadian identity," she said. For Rennie, the Canadian symbols she's drawn are a way to express Canadian-ness in relation to American-ness. Primarily, she said she wanted to differentiate the country's identity from the "melting pot" of the U.S. "We are a cultural mosaic. We are allowed to express where we're from," she said. While Rennie originally planned to do just 100 days of drawings, she said Drawn to Canada has been so satisfying, for both her creative side and her identity as a "fierce Canadian," that she'll keep the series going beyond those hundred days.
CBC
30-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
What does Canadian pride mean to people in Ottawa?
With many Canadians feeling a renewed sense of patriotism, Jodie Applewaithe asked people in Ottawa what Canadian pride means to them in 2025.
