July 1: Eh?

 Somewhere in there, I got me a job as a chauffeur for pilots and flight attendants. Day one of the job and I wind up picking up a flight crew from Dallas.

"How long does it take to get to the hotel, driver?" the pilot asks.

"About 15 minutes, eh?" I said.

"Eh!" They all laughed. One of the flight attendants, a gal who couldn't have been a day over 19, quipped: "So it's true. Canadians say 'eh.'"

From that moment on, my ehs were a source of amusement. This did not offend me. To me, "eh" is nothing but unconscious punctuation, anticipated agreement to the inconsequential. "Eh" is Canadian shorthand for "is that correct?" If that puts a smiley face on the star spangled banner, who am I to complain?

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But didn't we all bust a collective Canadian gut when Pepsi wanted us to yell "Eh-Oh-Canada Go" at the 2010 Winter Olympics? Worst cheer ever, we all thought. We'll stick to Go Canada Go, thank you very much. It worked too. Thanks Mr. Crosby and Mr. Iginla and here's a complimentary bottle of silver polish for Team USA.

Canadians are known for their politeness, except while watching other countries try to beat them at hockey. It's true, eh?

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It is appropriate that "Eh", which is the shortest title I've ever been given for note-a-day, falls on Canada Day.  Today, thousands of us will wear red and white, attend barbecues, and watch fireworks. Others will not. There is a movement across the country called "Cancel Canada Day." It is fueled largely by Indigenous people and their allies who don't think that Canada and its concomitant residential school system is worthy of celebration. Instead of fireworks and poutine and the maple leaf forever, these ceremonies include smudge walks, public speakers, and indigenous art displays.

I sympathize. I really do. But I'm gonna celebrate Canada Day. I will do so, in part, because of something an Indigenous chief told me a few years ago when Canada was preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary. He told me flat out that he wasn't about to Canada's past 150 years. But he further noted that Canada has been making an effort to right its historical wrongs - instituting a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and insisting that schoolchildren be taught about residential schools - and because of that, he was willing to help celebrate the next 150.

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Here is something a Pennsylvania writer named Dan Nosowitz wrote in an essay entitled Why do Canadians say 'Eh?': "There are a few major ways a Canadian could use 'eh.' The first is while stating an opinion: 'It’s a nice day, eh?' Another would be as an exclamation tag, which is added to a sentence in order to indicate surprise: 'What a game, eh?' Or you could use it for a request or command: 'Put it over here, eh?' And then there’s the odd example of using it within a criticism: 'You really messed that one up, eh?'"

Works for me.

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I am writing this on the morning of Canada Day. As God would have it, I will be doing a magic show in seven hours in the small Alberta community of Black Diamond. I have just learned that Black Diamond is about to amalgamate with another municipality called Turner Valley; they will become the new municipality of Diamond Valley. The reason for this is that on their own, their population bases are too low to qualify for certain provincial and federal grants. By joining forces, they will have enough people to merit more attention from the upper tier. Pretty smart, eh?

 

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I am sure I've said "eh" at least 100,000 times in my life. I have a bad habit of using it to try to rebuff bad news. This I learned when I accidentally recorded a phone conversation I was having with my best friend. I was trying to make plans with him and he kept telling me it wouldn't work out. To wit:

Shteevie: So we should hang out. What are you doing Friday night?

Best Friend: I have a gig, man.

Shteevie: Oh you do, eh?

Best Friend. Yeah, sorry.

Shteevie: Don't be sorry, dude. That's your music. You gotta do that. Hey, you know what? I'm actually free this afternoon. Why don't we go for lunch...

Best Friend: Dude, my grandma's visiting...

Shteevie: Oh she is, eh?

Best Friend: Yeah, but what about Sunday?

Shteevie: I'm going to the Flames game.

Best Friend: Oh.

Shteevie: But you know what? I have an extra ticket. You should go.

Best Friend: I can't man. My legs can't do all those stairs.

Shteevie: Oh they can't, eh?

Etc...

To a non-Canadian, that conversation scans as ultra-polite. To me, I just wince at all those 'ehs." They were failed prayers. They were me telling my best friend: "Please tell me that's not true."

Now that I put my mind to it, other Canadians have said eh to me over the years. Here are some examples, offered without context:

- "I like your play but there are some scenes that don't work and they'll have to be changed before we'll even consider it, particularly the scene in the dungeon. You know what I mean, eh?"

- "Hi Mr. Magician. It's raining so you'll have to do your show indoors next to the chainsaw carving demonstration. That's okay, eh?"

- "You can drive me to work at four in the morning, eh?"

- "Oh it's wing night at the South Glengarry. We should eat there tonight, eh?"

- "You know, I really don't feel like watching this Lord of the Rings movie right now. Maybe we could play some Othello, eh?"

And so on.

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One of the biggest social changes over the past half decade or so is the willingness of Canadians to acknowledge that we're doing pretty much everything on unceded Indigenous land. Students are reminded of it at the beginning of every school day, it's mentioned at every political gathering, and it's always thundered out before hockey games. To wit: "The Calgary Flames acknowledge that the Saddledome is located on the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot First Nation tribes of Siksika, the Piikuni, the Kainai, the Stoney Nakoda First Nations tribes of Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley and the Tsuut'ina. And now, please rise and sing our National Anthem, which includes the words 'O Canada, our home and native land...'"

Sorry, I see a disconnect there.

Ottawa used to be home to a raging leftie named Arün Smith, who hated free speech so much that he once tore down a free speech wall at Carleton University. His Twitter feed pooh-poohed most things Conservative. One of his favourite canards was that "Canada shouldn't exist." Arün won my respect when he moved to Scotland, presumably because he was a big ole hypocrite for living in a country that, he believed, had no right to be here. He's not a hypocrite anymore, eh?

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One Sunday, while sitting in church, a refugee from the Congo delivered the message. He talked about the violence he witnessed in his native country and gave thanks to God for delivering him to Canada. He urged us to have a heart for refugees, telling us that many of them are fleeing the same violence he experienced.

Maybe our past shouldn't define our future. 

Eh?