One of the late Peter Gzowski’s most amusing contributions to the never-ending search for Canadian identity was his contest to find this country’s equivalent of “as American as apple pie.”
So they made a national contest to come up with a new Canadian slogan and fill in the blank, “As Canadian as …”
You could think the winning entry was going to be, “As Canadian as maple syrup,” or, “… ice hockey.”
But no, Canadians voted for their new national slogan to be — I kid you not — “As Canadian as possible under the circumstances.”
So what are “the circumstances” under which people feel and become most Canadian?
“To be as Canadian as possible under the circumstances …” Not a bad citizenship objective, despite its self-deprecating modesty. But let us then pay greater attention to defining, expanding and appreciating “the circumstances” under which we become “most Canadian.”