At some point, you feel Canadian. Whether you were born in Canada or immigrated here, you eventually develop a sense of what it feels like to be Canadian. For high school students, it can be challenging if you haven’t experienced other countries or really much of your own country. It can be complicated trying to put your finger on where it came from, your sense of Canadian-ness, but it’s there.

Two well-known Canadians, relevant to contributing to Canadian nationality and culture, both have considered this question and put their finger on different sources.

One feels their sense of nationality has come from their community, their cultural roots from an immigrant source.
The other feels his sense of belonging in Canada is rooted in the land, the harsh northern land he grew up on.

There is a video for each writer below to get a sense of who they are. Each of their messages in these videos is connected to their sense of belonging in Canada.

The David Suzuki Essay Supports:

If you’re curious to learn more about David’s experience of the internment camps as a child you could listen to some of his interview about it, posted below.

The Pierre Berton Essay Supports:

Click the image below to watch Berton on the Rick Mercer show explaining how to roll a joint.

One of the tasks in your Comprehension work is to go through the short Berton essay and remove what is “unnecessary” to the writing. His writing in particular is very descriptive and poetic, despite being in essay form. Remove the “style” from his writing by crossing out the words not needed to simply make his points. An example is provided below: