Canadian Red Mittens & Olympic Patriotism in Canada

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Canadian Red Mittens & Olympic Patriotism in Canada

We’ve all seen the Olympic 2010 red mitten campaign on the daily news; video clips of the torch bearers running the cross Canada relay, including the most recent, on Dec 10, when Olympic skater Barbara Anne Scott proudly carried the flaming torch right through the House of Commons, Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

Every parliamentarian in the house stood and cheered as one of Canada’s most famous gold medal champions, now 81 years old. Wonderful young Canadians, fabulous old Canadians, and fantastic new Canadians, some famous, some down to earth; all of them smiling with pride and waving their fuzzy red mitten clad hands at the cheering on-lookers, many of whom are also wearing the charming red mitts with the baby maple leaf emblem on the palm. A typical example of the kind of crazy humour that Canadians find to be a small source of delight and amusement in a dark cold winter place. Flashing that surprising little white maple leaf out of a bright red mitten is really pretty cute.

Is this the very best way for us to show our patriotism? By flashing nationalistic symbols such as the Maple Leaf Flag and those beautiful red & white colours and wearing maple leafs all over our clothing? Is there a better way to express our true Canadian heart and our vision of a nation that values the diversity and inclusiveness of its people above all else? Are we really representing ourselves with just the red & white? Or should we have ordered an equal number of mitts in every colour?

We Canucks have always been a little shy of excessive nationalistic behavior. This seems like a good way to be because we’ve seen how human nature can get a bit ugly when people start trying to divide up into we and them; new comers and originals, purple & pink, French & English etc. We consider all to be equal, and we are uncomfortable with anything that smacks of superiority or discrimination. I believe it was Pierre Elliot Trudeau who first clarified what the Canadian vision of inclusiveness meant in concrete terms. We are NOT a cultural melting pot. Instead we encourage new Canadians to fully express their personal, national & cultural identities, to maintain them for the duration of their lives and to teach their language and traditions to their children. All Canadians are given the opportunity to enjoy, learn about and participate in each others traditions, festivals, religions and celebrations. Some of our best family times are spent with our kids, doing just that. It is certainly very common to see the multicoloured flags of many different countries flying proudly in neighborhoods all over Canada.

Many Canadians have come from other countries & will cheer for the athletes from the country to which they still relate culturally as well as the Canadians. In Canada, the retention and protection and celebration of all cultural identities is really central to the miracle of how we all get along most of the time. So, do the red mittens with the white maple leaf really represent Canadian patriotism, or should we not be having the mittens made in a rainbow of colours that truly is a symbol of our love of diversity? Surely the Chinese manufacturers that were given the contract to knit our mitts would be more than happy to make them in any colour we choose. Even the maple leaf symbol could be any colour. The maple leaf is red on our flag, yet someone thought it would be cool to reverse the colours; changing the design to a white leaf on the red mittens, so I guess we can mess with the colour further if we want.

With many different publicity agendas, such as the red mitten campaign, on the go for the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter games in Canada, Canadians are starting to show their enthusiasm and welcome to the worlds young people. How could Canadians show patriotism for Canada and still celebrate the fact that we are a phenomenally multi-cultural country? Many Canadians have come from other countries & will cheer for the athletes from the country to which they still relate culturally as well as the Canadians. In Canada, the retention and protection and celebration of all cultural identities is really central to the miracle of how we all get along most of the time. So, do the red mittens with the white maple leaf really represent Canadian patriotism, or should we not be having the mittens made in a rainbow of colours that truly is a symbol of our love of diversity. Surely the Chinese manufacturers that were given the contract to knit our mitts would be more than happy to make them in any colour we choose. Even the maple leaf symbol could be any colour according to the cultural identity of the wearer.

The hand knit mitten itself is a huge Canadian tradition; I can’t imagine that there is anyone who grew up here in Canada, that did not spend their childhood winters bundled up to their eyebrows in coats, scarves, toques and of course, the mitts. None of us can count the number of times we lost our mittens; much like “The Three Little Kittens” in the popular nursery rhyme. Mom was never happy about the loss of a mitten but another pair would be found, bought or hand knit in quick order. Our little hands had to be kept warm or some disaster would happen; frost bite, frozen fingers and even just that terrible pain that you felt while your hands were thawing. Mittens represent nurturing and love for Canadians. There is nothing quite as cozy a feeling as when you slip on a pair and feel the warmth and softness surround your fingers. I kind of wish that we could provide every Olympic visitor, upon their arrival at our winter games, with a pair of our Canadian mittens. It could be kind of like the Hawaiian lei that was traditionally given as a welcome to visitors upon their arrival. The warm welcome offered by those red mittens would say to every visitor; “Canadians are concerned with the well being of others. If you are cold, we will warm you.”
GO CANADA!

By Author Diane Lennox

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