Commentary
The concept of Canadian patriotism has evolved steadily but gradually over more than 400 years.
When Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in 1608, and in his 30 years as governor of New France, he was inspired by a vision of creating a great French state in the northern half of North America. As a writer, explorer, and cartographer, his vision was so persuasive that he gained the official and financial support of Cardinal Richelieu, the all-powerful leader of the French state and the person who, more than anyone else, created the modern state. If Canada had not begun as a French colony, it would’ve been assimilated into the administration of the American colonies and become part of the United States. Certainly, that would not have been a dreadful fate, but it would have been the end of any notion of Canada as anything other than a region of the United States….