So, I'm talking to Nathan yesterday, eh, and you know I'm Canadian, eh, and he says, "I just love the song Northwest Passage, the unofficial anthem of Canada!" EH?!
Well, it's been almost 20 years since I lived in Canada, and even longer since I said "eh" at the end of every sentence, but I had to admit to Nathan that I'd never heard of the song. My Canadian wife of 30 years has never heard of it. It just so happens that my parents are visiting from Canada, so I asked them last night ... never heard of it. We got on YouTube and listened to the song ... horrible, and now we were sure we'd never heard of it. Called my sister in Canada who lives in the REALLY frozen north and listens to public radio all the time - she'd vaguely heard of it. Googled it, and sure enough wikipedia reported that no less than the prime minister of Canada had called the song the "unofficial anthem".
My point? Based on my extensive research, I'm betting most people in Canada have not heard of this song and certainly don't consider it any sort of "anthem" of Canada - yet with a few keystrokes and an entry in wikipedia the rest of the world (in this case, Nathan) can be convinced that it's some sort of Canadian classic! I have no idea whether the prime minister really said what is quoted, but we all know about trusting politicians!
While the internet has made so much knowledge so accessible, this illustrates how easy it is to be fooled or misled. We need to teach our students, and remember ourselves, to check, double-check and triple check all information ... and if you have any doubts, call a Canadian to set you straight!
P.S. You know how we spell our country's name, right? It's "C", eh, "N", eh, "D", eh
P.P.S. For vintage Canuck comedy, check out "Bob and Doug Mackenzie" and "Great White North" on YouTube
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