True grit lacking in Canadian collection

Some things sound great in theory but flop in practice.

Take this mixed bag of patriotic Canadian essays responding to Donald Trump’s obnoxious “51st state” taunts last winter.

At the time it was a no-brainer: collect the musings of a range of cultural figures as they react to the “existential threat” to our national sovereignty posed by the trolling of the newly installed U.S. president.

And what better title to use than the hockey metaphor Toronto-born comedian Mike Myers employed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live: “Elbows Up.”

But the ineffectually raised elbows here will do little to dissuade the ugly American bullies, who seem to be getting worse with each passing month.

If this is what passes for a strong Canadian defence, we are ripe for picking off.

Here is a typically smug bromide from veteran Toronto-based fashion writer Jeanne Beker:

“What ultimately sets us apart from our American neighbours is a kind of honesty, earnestness and authenticity — that quiet, down-to-earth humility that allows us to see the forest for the trees.”

Gag us with a hockey stick. Where are Bob and Doug McKenzie when you need them?

CBC Radio host Elamin Abdelmahmoud, whom publisher McClelland & Stewart tasked with assembling the project, acknowledges the inspiration of the 1968 collection The New Romans from Edmonton publisher and outspoken nationalist Mel Hurtig.

Abdelmahmoud has gathered 28 submissions, largely from contemporary writers, broadcasters and filmmakers. Four are reprints from The New Romans — a poem by Margaret Atwood as well as prose by Margaret Laurence, Farley Mowat and Mordecai Richler. They illustrate how little has changed in two generations.

The musician and hockey writer Dave Bidini weighs in on the importance of this past February’s 4 Nations Face-Off to our national self-esteem. The late goaltending legend Ken Dryden reminisces about his part in the 1972 Canada-Russia series.

Film director Atom Egoyan and actor Jay Baruchel both tackle the perennial issue of our movie screens being colonized by Hollywood.

Eccentric entries come from Ontario memoirist Iain Reid and Quebec novelist Catherine Leroux in the form of metaphor-laden short stories. The screenwriter and novelist Catherine Hernandez offers her two cents’ worth via comic-strip panels.

Manitoba is well represented. Besides Laurence’s piece — a jeremiad against U.S. gun violence in the form of a letter to a grieving mother — Abdelmahmoud includes essays by Indigenous writers Niigaan Sinclair and David A. Robertson as well as medical doctor Jillian Horton.

Many of the essays veer off topic with needless autobiography. Several of them, submitted in the spring, feel constrained by the fear of being overtaken by today’s headlines.

But the biggest problem is the uniformity of political views. Almost no one challenges the left-liberal-progressive assumptions of the Canadian cultural establishment.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t some knowledgeable pieces. A thoughtful essay from former Walrus editor Jessica Johnson speaks to the difficulty of defining our national identity.

An equally insightful entry from retired CBC broadcaster Carol Off spells out how the free-trade initiatives of the Mulroney era led to our current dilemma. But too many contributors offer self-indulgent rants soaked in the specifics of their particular grievances.

A shout-out to the most egregious offender, the Ontario poet and novelist Canisia Lubrin. Her essay on the value of Black women writers to the national consciousness borders on parody of neo-Marxist academic gibberish.

Let’s be clear. Canadians have every reason to worry about what has been transpiring south of the border. “Elbows up” from well-meaning culture vultures are not enough. We need some heavy hitters to drop their gloves.

Morley Walker is a retired Free Press editor and writer.