A Watershed in the Relationship Between Scotland and Her Diaspora
By HARRY McGRATH
When the Scottish parliament reconvened in 1999 after a 300 year adjournment, it wasn't just home-based Scots who felt a sense of excitement and anticipation.
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JIM MATHER, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism with the Scottish Government (second from right) with Harry McGrath correspondent from Edinburgh for The Celtic Connection; Stephen Cotton, Chairman of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh; and Dick Mungin, Chief Executive of The Scotland Funds in Edinburgh
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Scots around the world looked forward to increased contact from the homeland now that it had its own assembly again. Canada especially anticipated a renewal of contact with Scotland given that it had been the most popular destination for Scottish emigrants for centuries and still housed a large Scots-Canadian community within its modern multi-cultural framework.
However, in the first eight years of devolution nothing much happened, at least as far as Canada was concerned. A previous Scottish First Minister made it no further than Ontario and one of his Cabinet members promised to set out for Vancouver but never arrived.
The Scottish Executive (as it was then) had eyes only for Tartan Week in New York where politicians arrived on gravy planes from Scotland every year, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the celebration was a Canadian idea in the first place.
In his recent visit to Canada, Jim Mather, the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism in the Scottish government's new administration, appeared to be on a one-man mission to address this neglect.
Mather's five day sojourn took him to Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and Vancouver. He met with Canadian politicians, banks, businesses and energy companies, conducted interviews with media outlets including Canadian Business Magazine and The Celtic Connection, hosted dinners and gave speeches. I caught up with Minister Mather at the Scottish Parliament after he returned from Canada:
"My visit to Canada was extremely useful and reaction to me and the prospect of a reawakened Scotland was exceedingly warm. I discovered a great font of goodwill towards Scotland from those of Scots descent.
"I also found that all the Canadian businesses I met were receptive to our approach to government and were likely to invest further in Scotland.
"These same businesses were also receptive to the prospect of doing more business with Scottish companies in Canada, given the success of the existing Scottish businesses and the common values we share. I will be back and hopefully welcoming many Canadians to Scotland in the near future."
The Mather visit also created opportunities for other forms of contact between Scotland and Canada that are not strictly part of his portfolio, especially the prospect of an increased presence for contemporary Scottish culture in Canada.
Joining him in Toronto and Vancouver were representatives of the Scotland Funds charity, the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and the Scottish music industry as well as your humble columnist, in the role of silent witness.
The Traverse is Scotland's new writing theatre responsible for much of the innovative production presently taking place in Scotland and beyond.
For instance, they were original co-producers of Black Watch, a play on the history of that storied regiment now receiving rave reviews in New York. The Chair of the Traverse, Stephen Cotton, spoke after Mather in Toronto and Vancouver and outlined his vision for cultural connection generally and the role of the Traverse in particular. Back in Edinburgh, I asked him for his assessment of his experience in Canada:
"The key lessons for me from my visit to Canada were that the descendents of the Scots who helped create the modern Canada remain as committed as ever to their culture, heritage and traditions; that it is right to see the Scottish Government at last beginning to engage properly with Scots abroad by facilitating cultural, philanthropic and business engagement for the benefit of both countries; and that there is a dawning realisation that Scotland's modern culture is a world class industry and a source of both pride for Scots everywhere and of increased tourism for those who were unaware of just how highly regarded Scottish culture is."
And all this cultural connecting is not only in one direction. Also in the travelling party was Ronnie Gurr, ex Virgin Records and Sony Music and one of Scotland's leading experts in the music industry. While in Toronto, he and I went to a small club to watch young Canadian singer songwriter Michael Johnston.
Michael was Canada's representative in a project known as Burnsong which is dedicated to promoting, encouraging and nurturing songwriting in Scotland. In 2006 he spent five days in a "songhouse" in Dumfries creating new songs with other Scottish artists. This year Midge Ure, of Live Aid fame and now a resident of Montreal, was one of the artists in the songhouse.
In the same year that the parliament reconvened, Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie published a collection called Jizzen. The penultimate poem in the collection has a long title and short body. "On the Design Chosen for the New Scottish Parliament Building by Architect Ernic Miralles" has only two lines:
An upturned boat
- a watershed.
It took eight years for it to become apparent that the opening of the new parliament was also a watershed in the relationship between Scotland and the Scots in Canada.
Writer John Buchan is supposed to have said that Canada was just Scotland writ large. It is no longer so, nor should it be in the modern context, but Scotland is still writ large enough in Canada and the connections now being made hold great promise for both the old country and the new.
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