Opinion: Canada — Held together by duct tape and values

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By: David Allison and Zita Cobb

Canada is an experiment. A glorious, improbable and occasionally wobbly experiment. It’s a country held together with a little polite persistence, duct tape and a lot of hockey. Plus, a general agreement that we are, in fact, not Americans.

But the real glue — the thing that actually keeps this place from falling apart — isn’t maple syrup or universal health care, it’s our values. And right now, we need to rally around them.

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Our neighbours to the south are stirring the pot, and while we know it’s not all Americans poking us with a stick, it’s a good moment to remind ourselves who we are and what we stand for. Because when we know our values, we’re stronger against outside noise, and in support of each other too.

Here’s the problem: the loudest voices too often get to define what it means to be Canadian, as if whoever shouts the most on social media gets to hold the crayon and write our national identity handbook. But volume isn’t the same as wisdom.

If we want to keep this grand Canadian experiment going, we need to ground ourselves in what actually matters to Canadians — not just to the handful of people with the biggest platforms.

So, what do Canadians actually care about?

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Forget the noise — there’s data. The Valuegraphics Research Company asked Canadians about what drives them, what keeps them up at night, and what makes them smile. We asked about their hobbies, their loves, losses and likes. We talked about their daily rituals and great escapes. We covered the full depth and breadth of the human experience.

Because when you listen to people tell you all about their lives, they reveal what they truly value.

We surveyed 12,000 Canadians in a statistically representative sample across every province and territory. Since then, we’ve benchmarked roughly 100,000 additional surveys against this dataset.

We found that Canadians value family (86 per cent); belonging (85 per cent); relationships (79 per cent); health and well-being (78 per cent) most.

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Next comes personal growth (69 per cent); basic needs (65 per cent); employment security (63 per cent); community (59 per cent); financial security (58 per cent); religion and spirituality (53 per cent).

Important too are security (52 per cent); creativity (51 per cent); possessions (49 per cent); and loyalty (49 per cent). While these numbers vary some from place to place, these are the values that Canadians hold closest to their hearts.

Our values drive what we do, who we are, and who we will become. A strong Canada is a Canada that stands firm in its values.

If we actually use this data to make decisions — whether in government, business or community-building — we end up with a country that reflects what people truly care about.

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When we let the loudest voices set the agenda, we end up losing the unifying power of shared values. We can’t afford to do that right now.

Our Canadian values have emerged organically from Canadian communities. The power of place, and the people who live there, have informed who we are and what we stand for.

The future of Canada is local.

It’s time to reclaim the Canadian narrative. We need to know who we truly are. This is our moment to stand up — not against anyone, but for ourselves. We don’t need to define ourselves by what we aren’t. We can define ourselves by who we are.

We are a nation of families, communities and belonging. We value security, health, creativity and loyalty. We believe that communities standing together is always more powerful than shouting alone.

So, let’s use this moment to be certain of what we stand for. Because when we do, we build a stronger, smarter, more resilient Canada that doesn’t just talk about unity — but actually lives it.

David Allison is CEO of Valuegraphics Research Company and a pioneer in data-driven human values research. Zita Cobb is founder/CEO of Canadian charity Shorefast, and innkeeper of Fogo Island Inn.

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