It’s a funny kind of Canada Day this year. Normally, I might have been down by the wonderful Lake Ontario waterfront with throngs of other proud Canadians, celebrating our country’s birthday. Certainly, I’d be looking forward to fireworks – either those put on by the city at the lake or the ones cobbled together by community organizers and set off in my neighbourhood park.
But the world has other plans this year, and so like thousands of others, I’m celebrating a quieter kind of Canada Day today. While I have braved a patio lunch with a couple of colleagues I haven’t seen in what seems like forever, it doesn’t quite feel right to be rushing to a more crowded place, even if it is outdoors.
So today is a more contemplative one. I’m thinking of how glad I am to be a citizen of this country. While our history is certainly not perfect, and we have our fair share of blemishes, I thing that generally – even during a global coronavirus pandemic – we have a lot to celebrate.
From coast to coast to coast, Canada boasts lakes, mountains, green forests and lush tundra. We have fertile land to grow nourishing crops. We have world-class universities turning out graduates who drive our economy and innovate for the future. We have an arts system that grows talent too big for us to contain – we’ve exported too many actors and musicians to name. And we have poutine!
We can poke fun at ourselves – this catchy tune has been making the rounds for a couple of months now, and I’ve found myself going back to it from time to time for a smile.
Our health care system is second to none, and so far it’s weathered this crisis. To put a finer point on it, we generally have people willing to make personal sacrifices for the greater good of the nation. That shows up in our readiness to help, in our belief in a social safety net, and yes indeed, in our taxes. In this time, it also means we have been willing to stay home, to wash our hands and to wear masks when we’re in closed spaces with others. We haven’t politicized it – we’ve just done it and gone about our business.
Are we perfect? Of course not. Nobody and no country is. We have a lot to learn still and past mistakes to make up for. But I genuinely believe that most Canadians want to do that work.
When my kids were young, and used to complain about how boring Canada was, I used to tell them to be grateful they lived in a “boring” country and to be thankful that by an accident of birth, they had a solid roof over their heads, food in their tummies and never had to worry about war, political instability, natural disasters or simply speaking their minds.
So while I sit in my back garden today and soak up the sun, I’ll be thinking of the many reasons I’m happy and proud to be living here.
Oh Canada, indeed!
Leave me a message below and let me know why you’re proud to be Canadian, and how you’re celebrating Canada Day this year.
