The True North Strong and Free, Eh

What's that supposed to mean? 

Perhaps true means that the words are an exact representation of reality. Good luck with that.

North could refer to direction. But is that magnetic north or geographic north (about 800 km apart), and does it ignore the Chandler Wobble and the drift of the magnetic north pole (55 km per year)? North maybe, but true north?

Here in Guelph, Victoria Road North means Victoria Road Northwest. Since the city is laid out on the bias (45° counterclockwise), north in Guelph is a convenient fiction on which locals agree to keep directions simple. We get away with it because the GPS lady isn't worried and nobody looks at maps anymore.

Or maybe north refers to latitude. Let's see. Compare 43.0° N for London Ontario Airport and 51.5° N for London Heathrow. Well, Canada is a big country, so not all parts of it deserve the True North designation. We just ignore that the true north is where most Canadians don't live and never visit. 

Anyway we're strong, aren't we? So we can keep the Russians out if they decide they want our north for its mineral resources. We have strong defenses, unless we blow our budget on pipelines and oil subsidies and can't afford jets and helicopters and radar stations. Nevertheless, we are quite strong economically except for homeless people sleeping in tents in the town square. Whatever, we certainly smell strong from wildfires, pulp mills, nickel smelting, tailings ponds and diesel exhaust. 

Anyway, we are free, for sure, since Canada is a big place, and if we choose to, we can make a home on the tundra where there's nothing around but mosquitoes to bother us, until the permafrost melts and the tent disappears into a sinkhole. Otherwise, free means we are crowded into cities paying more rent than we can afford, putting up with neighbours who have foreign accents and odd cooking odours and strange holidays, neighbours who won't show skin at the beach like regular Canadians do. But I suppose free means we must tolerate differences, obey the rules and pay taxes in return for the shared benefits of living in community, like a tidy income stealing cars. Also free means reciprocity, meaning we give some to get some, except for the CEO who gets a year's average wage in a single paid holiday Monday plus half an hour at the office on Tuesday. That's what we're singing about.

Or are we? It seems we are sort-of north-ish, sort-of strong-ish, and sort-of free-ish. Not so singable, but closer to true.

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By now you have figured out that I'm piling this stuff up to spread it again later fertilizing an argument. You are so smart!

Every utterance, even this one, comes with some mix of intentions such as the following: to convey information or question information, to inspire or inhibit imagination, to support or discount explanation, to motivate or discourage action, to entertain or annoy, to prove who is smarter and who's not, and anything else I can't think of right now. Intention will be some blend of these proto-intentions. If we don't have the time or patience or capability to sort out the intentions behind the words, we may depend on the pronouncements of experts or tradition or just take a guess, which makes it unlikely we will comprehend exactly what was meant. But we do our best and live with the consequences.

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No surprise then that the true north strong and free could mean something different than I suggested in the preamble. That phrase from our national anthem was not intended, I imagine, as a definitive description of the Canadian experience but rather as an aspirational ideal yet to be defined. 

Let me have a go. North perhaps includes a hint of adventure, braving the unknown wilderness. Strong could refer to hardship endured with courage. Maybe free implies that we have a choice of possible futures to pursue. And singing about it together will help us get there even if we are not sure where we are going. 

As I see it, the true north strong and free is poetry, the author's intention being that we live meaning into the words. 

As for my words in this note, you may well question my intentions. Why am I writing about the National Anthem when Canada Day is four months away? That's too involved to answer just now. Maybe the next note will enlighten. I am interested to see what I have to say for myself.