Our homegrown defence

Opinion

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This article was published 03/04/2025 (192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When we can no longer trust some sources of information while facing an existential threat from the United States, our values must be the anchors on which we rely.

These values are essential to guide us through challenging times. They came from the land itself and its original peoples — values we have passed down from generation to generation. They have shaped how we view a “person” and deal with “difference.”

These values of openness and acceptance are among the reasons why warring Europeans and other immigrants sought sanctuary, hope, and a good life on this continent.

The story of Vilhjalmur Stefansson illustrates the point. Born in Manitoba, he moved to the U.S. and changed his name. From 1908 to 1912, he led an expedition in the Canadian western Arctic — the modern-day Northwest Territories — an Inuvialuit land claim region whose peoples he called “Copper Inuit.”

The Inuit had never before encountered someone who looked like Stefansson, who was accompanied by an Inuk from Alaska. As he approached each Inuit community, they asked him to wait at the outskirts. Having gone, they would return with their staple food, muktuk (blubber), and say eat! As Stefansson would consume it, they would exclaim, “You are a person,” and would welcome him into their community with hospitality and shelter. This happened time and time again during his travels in the winter through the land of the Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic.

We do not have to agree with each other because we are indeed different. Nonetheless, our borders and sovereignty need to be respected.

But we can also recognize the personhood of our neighbours, friends, and even strangers precisely because they are different. In our towns and cities, we may not agree with our neighbours but we acknowledge them because they show us what we cannot see, and in turn, we make them think about what they had not considered.

Together we are stronger and wiser.

Today, as Canadians prepare to elect a new federal government in the coming weeks, we cannot allow poisonous political leaders to highjack our humanity. The United States has become a house divided, facing potential violence or even civil war, because each side demonizes the other.

The superficial and shallow drown out the vast majority of kind, thoughtful, and generous Americans. Each time someone voices dissent or questions, they are threatened, and their homes are egged. Fear drives the society south of the Canadian border. Canadians should avoid descending to these depths during the election. A country divided is easily conquered.

Our land defines our personhood. The name Adam in Arabic and Hebrew is a reference to the Earth and humanity. Surely, Christians, Jews, and Muslims understand this, because it is in their scriptures.

Similarly, the First Nations like the Gwich’in, the North and South Slavey, the Dogrib, and others call themselves Dene meaning “peoples.” They call their homelands Denendeh meaning “peoples who flow from the Creator’s Spirit through the land.” Similarly, Inuit means “people” and Inuvialuit means “real people.”

These ideas have become part of our social and ethical fabric, and our children have been informed by them whether we are conscious of it or not.

Difference and personhood are at work on the hockey rink. Each player brings distinct but mutually valuable qualities to the game. Their personhood is enhanced by their individual creativity and collective cooperation in skilful play. Canadian ice hockey personifies how difference is the tapestry of a beautiful game.

As we struggle to overcome the existential threat from our belligerent neighbour and the misinformation spread by venomous vested interests, we have our values that understand difference and respect personhood to protect and guide us. It is a defence worthy of pride and at work in our daily lives just as much as it is on the hockey rink each time we defeat a challenger.

Karim-Aly S. Kassam is International Professor of Environmental and Indigenous Studies at Cornell University.