Canada has long been viewed as lacking a strong identity - a wasteland of scattered peoples and conflicting ideals. As is the case with many stereotypes, there is some degree of truth in this statement.However, it would be more accurate to approach Canadian identity as an evolutionary process by which different peoples, cultures and languages gradually built an identity through generations of compromise and struggle against external powers (e.g. the British and Americans) as well as among themselves. This process continues today, as waves of immigration and generational demographic change transforms our understanding of race, gender, family, culture and the Canadian nation. Therefore, as this essay will argue, although it is true that Canada is a nation of many peoples and often conflicting ideals, it is precisely this diversity that is the foundation of our strong national identity.
