CANADA IS THE TALKING CIRCLE COUNTRY

I am looking forward to the leaders' debate this evening.  I anticipate that the debate will be intellectually stimulating -- not just because of brilliant policy analysis on the part of the leaders, but because I am approaching the debate from an angle that interests me. As I listen, I plan to evaluate the leaders in terms of my vision of what Canada is and who we are as Canadians. I understand Canada on the template of the Aboriginal "Talking Circle."

For eight years living with First Nations' people, once a month for ten months of the year, I participated in a "Talking Circle" at the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, Espanola, Ontario. Anishinabe women and men  in ministry gathered in a large circle in a room built from the logs gathered from the forest and settled into silence. At the centre of the circle was a table with the Eagle Feather. The person in the circle who was inspired to speak took the Eagle Feather and spoke about what had happened to them in the past month. As long as that person held the feather that person spoke without interruption. When finished, the speaker passed the Eagle Feather to the left in the pattern of the circling sun and moon and the next person had opportunity to speak or to pass the feather on.

Canada is a "Talking Circle" country. The circle continuously opens to receive newcomers. We gather connected to the "Land" -- the animals, the forest, the waters and the sun and moon. There is no hierarchy in the circle except that of respect for what each has to say in a distinctive voice. Word emerges honestly from Silence. We seek consensus as we learn patience.

My vision of Canada has been influenced by my reading of John Ralston Saul's A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada. I am grateful that he has been able to put into words an account of who we are that makes sense. We are not primarily shaped by European culture, not a post-colonial people, not another smaller America.

Now that I think about it, Ralston Saul's notion of Canada shaped by Aboriginal patterns makes sense in the way that Jane Urquhart's novel Away makes sense to me. They both have understood that the Aboriginal world view -- the closeness to the land, the respect given to dreams, the recognition that others have inspiration distinct and special to them -- forms us as Canadians.

As I read the party platforms I am searching for the party that works with a vision of who Canadians and Canada can be. I look to see policies that promote inclusion of newcomers and respect for the Land. Tonight, as I watch the leaders, I will be listening for the Canadian voice to rise above the babble of debate.