Five Great Things about Canada

It’s only natural to love the country we live in. But as Canadians we’re lucky because there’s so much to love about our country. In no particular order, here are five great things about Canada.

Hockey

Let’s face it. There’s no better sport in the world. It’s fast, it’s exciting, there’s body checking, it’s played on ice—how cool is that! It has slap shots, wrist shots, and mind blowing stickhandling. It has the most recognized sporting trophy in the world. It has the greatest rivalry in sports: Leafs and Habs. It has players with nicknames like Rocket, The Great One, The Kid, Golden Jet, Boom Boom, and The Hammer to name just a few.

People

We have some amazing people who work hard at making the world a better place. Some of them are famous like David Suzuki, Stephen Lewis, Jean Vanier, Elizabeth May, Naomi Klein, and Margaret Atwood. Some are less famous like Toronto nurse and housing and poverty advocate Cathy Crowe or Hamilton peace and justice advocate Alison Witt. And some have absolutely no recognition factor at all. They’re the people who visit senior residences, work at soup kitchens, run for public offices to serve, teach in our schools, and volunteer in all sorts of places in our communities. I believe in the future of our country and the world because of the people we have.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

It’s a travesty what happened in Canadian history. It’s an ugly chapter. What we did to our First Nations in the residential schools that were scattered across our country. However, I’m proud of the findings of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. It’s great that we are moving forward in trying to bring some semblance of healing to the hurt we inflicted. It’s beautiful to see the grace being extended by our First Nations brothers and sisters and the genuine desire across our wounded country to move forward.

Compassion

We have an extremely giving nation. Whether it’s a global tragedy, like an earthquake or Tsunami, or a local cause in our communities Canadians step up to give of their time, money, and advocacy. It’s easy to talk about making the world a better place, but if no one actually puts those words into action it can be a pretty sad story. I’m not claiming we’re perfect at it. Could we be better? For sure. But I’m constantly moved by the warm and giving hearts of my fellow Canadians.

Tolerance and Diversity

Many countries have diversity. But if you have diversity without tolerance it’s a recipe for disaster. We see plenty of evidence south of the border with a certain presidential candidate. Again, I’m not claiming we’re perfect, but we have a solid base of tolerance ingrained in our psyche that allows the diverse groups that live in Canada the opportunity to thrive and contribute. It’s not just that we have leaders and laws to make sure that tolerance is a way of life for us, it’s that we genuinely have a large percentage of our population that get it, that understand that’s it’s OK to be a little different from the person next to you. We all have a place at the table.

There are a lot of other things that make this country great. These are just a few that quickly came to mind. I thought I’d celebrate them with you.