The manager of
our local coffee house asked me yesterday if I was coming into town for the
Canada Day parade today. I’m not a big parade person, mostly because the crowds
get in my way, so aside from being surprised that there is a parade on top of
the other celebrations, I wrinkled my nose and said most likely not. Then I
asked him if he was going.
I love this guy.
His brow lowered and his eyes got steely, and he said, “I’m not so proud to be
Canadian these days. Our government isn’t doing anything to be proud of.”
“Yikes,” I replied.
“A dissatisfied customer!”
That got a
laugh, but we went on to discuss the upcoming election and where the Harpers are
in the standings (below the Trudeaus, he tells me, though he added that the
Liberals are responsible for getting us started on the downslide). We were
interrupted when his trusty sidekick asked him to take a phone call—but his
comment got me thinking about where the country stands on the global stage.
Truly, I don’t
follow the news. There isn’t much to cheer about, given the media’s propensity to
focus on death, disaster, and dishonour. And our national leaders, no matter
what party they represent, do tend to look south for direction. We’ve been
dragged into the war on terrorism thanks to radical extremists targeting everything
in the First World. Politically, Richard has a point. From a personal point of
view, however, I still take pride in being Canadian because our population is so
diverse. We’re still friendly. We are (mostly) polite. We are passionate and compassionate.
We are resilient and resourceful. We have the same social problems as everyone
else, but we’re trying to solve them as best we can. Best of all, we live in a place
where everywhere you turn, it’s breathtakingly beautiful.
Today, Ter and I
are taking it easy. An idle saunter through Oak Bay is on tap, wandering Willows
Beach and stopping for a pub lunch at the Penny in the village. We won’t be part
of the horde of 50,000 converging downtown for the festivities and we’ll only
hear the fireworks we used to see from our living room window at Rockland. I’m
happy to be Canadian, but today, I think I’m happier just to be.
Happy Canada
Day, eh?
Your Canada Day sounded glorious. I am glad that you both had a good time. I celebrated more yesterday buying a soft grey hoodie with a maple leaf on the front and the word 'eh' next to the stem.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot more to being a proud Canadian than approving of the politics - after all, who continually approves of what their government is doing? It's more about the freedoms we enjoy as a First World country ... and I have to admit, our national symbol is pretty darned cool. Are you going to post a pic of your hoodie?
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