Yes in the 17th & 18thC treasonous speech carried brutal penalties and racism was rampant (listen to the French in the 1960s, among others, for its persistence). But this show isn't about 17thC European norms. It's about Canada. And what it says, if you listen, is unusual. It says inter-dependence was a shaping factor in the country's development. The visuals initially seem conventional, but listen to the words too, to see the visuals differently.