Happy Canada Day

A few days ago I wrote about my ambivalence for national pride. Mostly, that post was about the flag as a symbol representing systemic racism.

Today, I will share some of the things I love about Canada.

My nieghbourhood in Calgary, Canada is truly wonderful. It is family oriented and we do know and care for one another.  And every July 1, the street is closed for a morning to late-evening block party. I am missing it this year because I am currently 2-months into a 3-month attachment with OECS in beautiful St. Lucia.

Our community (and specifically our street) has been featured nationally in Canada. One of our neighbours were interviewed by the Globe and Mail in 2011 – and although our street is mostly white, heteronormative and middle-to-upper-middle class – I am pleased that Chantel Elliot was able to speak to the diversity that does exist all-the-while discussing its lovely community spirit.

Another neighbour, author Will Ferguson, wrote about our street for CBC and  participated in the ‘hyperlocal’ project for the National Film Board. In that CBC article, Will wrote about our nieghbourhood:

“When I sit on my porch and look down my street, I see veranda after veranda lined up. Close together but not too close.  Kids coming and going. Neighbors chatting to neighbors.

We also often do things with our neighbours: events in Calgary; theatre; camping; hiking in the Rocky Mountains; etc.

Although inequality is growing in Canada, it is still more equal than many of the globe’s wealthy countries and that means Canadians have a better chance of living the ‘American Dream’ than those living in the United States (it says so in the New York Times and in the Globe and Mail).

Other big reasons I like Canada include:

1.  High quality education (hdr.undp.org)
2. Nationalized healthcare (thank you Tommy Douglas)
3. Legalized homosexuality in 1969 (Smith, 2005)
4. Legalized same-sex marriage in 2005 (Wintemute, 2004)
5. History of Peacekeeping – at least until recently (UN.org)
6. History of a strong social safety net (wikipedia.org)
7. Rocky Mountains and its rivers (UNESCO)
8. The Prairies where I lived the first half of my life (gov.mb.ca)
9. Official languages of English and French – wish I could speak them both and that indigenous languages were also ‘official’ (officiallanguages.gc.ca)
10. Multiculturalism – it’s not perfect but I do love diversity (cic.gc.ca)
11. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – especially radio and online news (CBC.ca)

So yes, Canada is a cool country and I am happy to be Canadian. I also recognize that I have privilege as a white male Canadian. And while the situation is improving, too few Canadians are aware of the racism that created (and continues in) Canada.  We have a lot of progress to make and the sooner the better.

Happy Canada Day!