values

What has Stephen Harper done to Canada? To some, that‟s a rueful, rhetorical question. To them it‟s obvious: this government has changed the country drastically and for the worse.

Much has been made of a purported rightward shift in Canadian values. But research shows that Canadians still want government in their lives, and a majority are not embracing conservative social values.

Justin Trudeau, leader of a Liberal Party that many recent polls have found nudging ahead of the Conservatives, is fond of describing his growing army of young volunteers across the country.

I’ve been committing sociology since my early youth. My parents and even my parish priest failed to detect early signs of trouble, even though I read the daily newspaper voraciously (a common warning signal among teenagers in the 1960s).

It seems every day Canadians awake to another sober message from a bank economist or cabinet minister – one part scolding, one part warning, all very serious. We are spending too much relative to our earnings.

Hockey has long held a central place in Canada, and the National Hockey League is the flagship arena for the sport. Professional hockey has long stood out for the aggressive style of play, which has largely been accepted as just a part of the game.

The first rule of fight club was don’t talk about fight club. The first rule of Canadian hockey seems to be never stop talking about it.

Canada’s history is one of successive waves of people arriving on its shores, each having to find their place among those who preceded them.

Anniversaries such as Canada Day are a good time to take stock of long-term changes in the lifestyles, attitudes and values that characterize our society. Incremental changes can seem matter of fact as they unfold in daily life, but their cumulative effects can be remarkable.