Happy Canada Day, eh!

Aah, to be Canadian on this most hoser-ific of days.

I was never a big fan of the eh! characterization of Canadians, thinking I was a little better than the stereotype. I didn’t say eh!, damnit! And I didn’t say ‘oot and aboot, either.

But I did, on occasion. Eh!, that is. Not ‘oot and aboot. No self-respecting Canuck says that. But eh! worked its way into the vocabulary of all of us back then. Some more often than others, of course.

Bob and Doug McKenzie said eh!, a lot. Thanks to Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, those two letters became Canada’s catch phrase, much like Yo, Adrian! Was for Rocky, Hi Neighbour was for Mr. Rogers and Sufferin’ Succotash was for Sylvester the Cat.

And to think it all started as filler on SCTV to both satisfy and mock Canadian content demands.

When the show moved to CBC in 1980 the network asked (ordered?) the producers to add two minutes of ‘Canadian content’ to the show for its national audience. Moranis and Thomas thought this was a stupid idea and came up with the Great White North talk show as a sort of protest. The show featured the boys as a couple of tuque-wearing hosers talking about important Canadian issues, such as doughnuts, back bacon and how to get a mouse in a beer bottle.

(To get free beer, of course.)

Much to everyone’s shock – especially Moranis and Thomas –  the skits were a smash hit and became a pop culture phenomenon, spawning a movie (Strange Brew, which starred my friend and college roommate Steve as an extra), a Grammy-nominated comedy album (remember Take Off! With Geddy Lee, and The Twelve Days of Christmas?) and leaving behind a linguistic legacy.

We do have an accent, eh?

Moranis remembered in a 2000 interview coming up with the material on the fly in the studio.

"Rick and I used to sit in the studio, by ourselves – almost like happy hour – drink real beers, cook back bacon, literally make hot snack food for ourselves while we improvised and just talked. It was all very low key and stupid, and we thought, 'Well, they get what they deserve. This is their Canadian content. I hope they like it.”

And they did, especially south of the border, with the U.S. network NBC specifically asking for the “two dumb Canadian characters” when they ordered the show for syndication in 1981.

And for those too young to remember SCTV, an animated version of the show debuted in 2009, with Thomas reprising his Doug McKenzie role while Dave Coulier (yah, the Full House dude) voiced Bob’s character.

I don’t hear eh! much anymore, but I figure I’ll hear it plenty on National Hoser Day. That’s today, eh?

**

I actually got my patriotic Canadian mojo going a couple of weeks ago when I had the honour of participating in a flag raising ceremony in Ajax.

Okay, it wasn’t an official ceremony. It just felt like one to me.

The giant Canadian flag flying from the Best Buy plaza at Harwood and Highway 2 in Ajax needed to be replaced, so Rio Can bought a new flag and we (and by we I mean me and my Brock Property ‘A’ Team crew) put it up.

Raising a flag is pretty straightforward but this flag raising felt different. For one thing, this flag (Original Flag Store, $1,015 plus tax) is huge. It’s 15 feet high and 30 feet wide and is a pretty impressive sight when it’s raised.

I felt very ‘Canadian’ doing it. Sort of like Joe from the I Am Canadian ads, but quieter.

My job was to ensure my half of the flag didn’t touch the ground during the unfurling process (it’s an international sin to let that happen – CSIS is watching) and I didn’t let the team down.

I felt proud.

**

I had all the kids over for dinner tonight. All four of them, plus girlfriends and all three grandchildren.

It was a combination Canada Day/belated birthday bash for my son Cam, who turned 22 more than a week ago. I called it CAM-ada Day. Clever, no?

It was also a chance to finally pay Cam for winning the family hockey pool. He didn’t get all that was owed, but he left with $10.25 in his pocket and as far as I could tell he left happy.

It was nice. We ate pork loin and birthday cake and sat around and talked about the Simpsons, the Leafs and gender equality.

It was all so beautiful I didn’t even make it down to Lakeview for the fireworks. Christian-Ann was taking the J Man down, so I went to bed instead.

Happy Canada Day, eh!