I've always enjoyed covering Canada Day for the newspaper. Call me sentimental, but there's something I just love about taking photos of the community celebrating the country we all call our home. It's a time of true national unity where we all wear red and white, have a barbecue and watch some fireworks in the night sky.
What Canada Day and the country as a whole mean varies from Canadian to Canadian. For some, it's just a chance to take the day off work and spend time with their family. For others, it's an event on par with the Americans' Fourth of July, complete with flashy costumes and patriotic fervour that would make Uncle Sam blush, assuming he's paying attention to his northern neighbour.
As for me, Canada Day is a fun event to cover and celebrate, but also a time to remember what it means to be a Canadian in today's world. It's to recognize the good and ill about our country, past and present and reflect on where we're going as a nation.
Canada remains, in my opinion, one of the better places to live in the 21st century. Sure, economically, we've had some trouble for the last 10 years, but compared to many nations on Earth, we're doing alright. Even amid tightening belts, we see evidence all the time locally of Canadians being generous to one another and supporting local food banks and charities, a sure sign of spiritual, if not material, wealth.
Politically, while we all have our complaints and issues, we have continued to avoid the widespread polarization and politicization of everyday life that our neighbours to the south have been dealing with as of late. That's not to say we're better than the Americans, far from it, but at the very least, our issues and disagreements are rooted in fundamental facts, rather than fantasy.
Despite the best efforts of years of unprecedented wildfires, the Canadian countryside remains beautiful to live and play in. The ability that so many Canadians have, including us here in the Cariboo, to simply drive out to some hidden lake is a rarer privilege than we know. It's a bonus that most of the wildlife won't harm us, unless, of course, we act stupidly and scare them.
Canada has also had the moral courage in recent years to address historic wrongs done to the First Nations, whose land we all live on. Thanks to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we've taken important steps to begin a process of reconciliation, healing and acknowledgement with our Indigenous neighbours. I, for one, take pride in a country willing to recognize and admit its mistakes.
On Canada Day, while we all wear and celebrate the red and white of our flag, it's important to remember the rainbow mosaic of different people who make up our country. Multiculturalism and acceptance of others without discrimination on the basis of religion, sexuality or race is a key cornerstone of the modern Canada and, God willing, the future.
For me, being Canadian remains a source of pride. No matter how much I might worry about politics down in the States or wish my ancestors had chosen to live somewhere tropical during the winter, Canada is my home. One I stand on guard for thee on.
So while we put away the Maple Leaf shirts for another year and start planning our summer getaways, let's keep that spirit of Canada Day, of that unity, alive in our hearts. Not a bad idea, eh?
