deachman: what's the most canadian thing you own?
4 minute read
barry padolsky models a top hat once owned and worn by former governor general vincent massey.
bruce deachman
/
postmedia
what’s the most canadian thing you own?
that, i decided a few days ago, would be my canada day assignment: to ask ottawans about their most canadian possession.
before heading out, though, i looked around my own apartment.
the stuffed ptarmigan, frozen in time in its winter-white finery? maybe, although taxidermy is understandably out of fashion.
the six-foot image of the peace tower that once adorned the exterior of the ottawa citizen building on baxter road? possibly, though then i’d have to answer questions about how it ended up in my apartment.
or perhaps my 35-inch canadian tire windshield scraper — actually made in canada, according to the label, albeit with “domestic and imported parts.” it’s kind of crappy and i have to replace it all the time, but i wouldn’t get through a canadian winter without one.
yes, definitely the scraper.
nothing i own, though, rivals the (literally) over-the-top bit of canadiana that my friend barry padolsky offered when i put the question to him.
barry owns a top hat that once belonged to — and was worn by — former governor general vincent massey, along with the hat’s handsome travel case.
barry inherited them from massey’s son, hart, when he died in 1997. hart was an architect whom barry worked for in the 1960s, and the gift stemmed from an old inside joke. years earlier, while barry was working on a canadian government exhibition, a young researcher naively phoned the governor general’s office and asked to speak with georges vanier, who at the time held the position. she hoped to borrow one of his hats for an exhibit. she was promptly rebuffed.
barry later told the story in hart massey’s office, where it became a favourite anecdote. decades later, when hart died, barry received the hat with the message: “now you can get your governor general’s hat.”
advertisement
barry says the hat belongs in the canadian museum of history. “i’m going to eventually donate it.”
so what about my other fellow ottawans? what gems of canadiana — likely falling somewhere between a sovereign representative’s top hat and an ice scraper found in a bin at the end of aisle 7 — might they be harbouring in their homes?
the most canadian object that ryan ait mamar owns is a device that when spun makes a loon call.
bruce deachman
/
postmedia
in parkwood hills, ryan ait mamar chose a noisemaker/musical instrument that he picked up in a canadian tourist shop. made of two handles, a rope and a disc, it imitates the haunting call of a loon when you spin it right. he isn’t a musician; he simply likes that it’s quirky and celebrates what he calls “probably the most canadian bird we have.”
former ottawa fire services captain “captain” kirk reid with his most canadian object — his fire hat with a metal beaver on it.
bruce deachman
/
poistmedia
near crystal beach, retired ottawa fire department captain “captain” kirk reid chose the helmet he wore during his 32-year career. the surprise isn’t the helmet itself, but the small metal beaver that fastens the front crest in place — with its front teeth, no less. the manufacturer, reid said, chose the beaver simply because it’s one of canada’s enduring symbols.
the most canadian object that teresa barrosso owns – the top of a 200-year-old b.c. spruce with a large burl attached – is also her favourite possession.
bruce deachman
/
postmedia
teresa barrosso’s most canadian possession, which sits in her vanier living room, is also, hands down, her favourite possession. it’s a burl-covered top of a 200-foot b.c. spruce that was felled on the 40-acre hobby farm in hudson’s hope, in northern b.c., where she and her family once rehabilitated injured wildlife. when she saw the burl, she fell in love with it, refusing to leave it behind: “i was, like, ‘this is coming with me!’” she said.
the piece, barrosso added, was destined to become part of a staircase, bar or kitchen island in another home, but today it serves as a base for a tabletop. she almost snapped at me when i asked her why it was the most canadian thing she owned. “it’s a b.c. spruce!” she said as if an explanation was unnecessary. “it’s the most canadian thing!”
nikki moreau holds the montreal canadiens mason jar glass that once belonged to her father.
bruce deachman
/
postmedia
advertisement
for centretown’s nikki moreau, the object itself — a montreal canadiens mason-jar drinking glass — is almost beside the point. the glass is a totem to her father, who died two years ago. but it’s also a reminder of the relationships that canadians have with and through hockey.
a lifelong habs fan, nikki’s father spent hockey seasons playfully sparring with his bruins-loving wife, both of them yelling at the tv set when the two teams played one another. “i never watched hockey, but hockey was always on on our tv,” recalled nikki. “it even went so far that my mother had a bruins lamp on her bedside table, and my father had a habs clock on his.”
trieu nguyen shows off his most canadian object — his canadian citizenship card.
bruce deachman
/
postmedia
later, in the centrepointe neighbourhood, i came across trieu nguyen as he pulled weeds from his interlocking brick driveway.
“i have a canada hat and a canada shirt,” he said when i asked about his most canuck possession.
when i asked if there was something more meaningful, he went inside and came out a minute later with his canadian citizenship card.
he arrived from vietnam in 1980 as one of the “boat people.” at the time, he said, he had two options to flee the communists: france or canada. an uncle of his, who lived in montreal, recommended canada, noting that canada spent huge sums of money planting flowers. if the country cared that much about flowers, nguyen figured, it must also care about people.
he only expected to stay a short time before returning to vietnam. that was more than 45 years ago. “i’m really proud,” he said. “i built a foundation here for my children, for my grandchildren.
“i know i made the right choice.”
as i drove back home, i realized it wasn’t the objects that mattered that much. the most canadian thing these people owned wasn’t really a top hat, or a firefighter’s helmet, a habs drinking glass, a government document or part of a tree trunk.
advertisement
it was the stories they attached to them.
happy canada day.
our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
share story
