On Being Canadian: Canada Turns 142
If you love this country, feelings run deep for it. For many years I loved being Canadian even though I didn’t really know what that meant. I was born in this country 50 years ago. I grew up at a time when things were pretty insular. You didn’t know what you did know. However I love being Canadian. I thought it was pretty cool.
I love being Canadian partly because I thought Canada was such a neat country. I used to look at the old school books and on the back of them Canada was always listed as the second largest country in the world. For a young lad dreaming of a life ahead knowing I was part of a big country was a real charge. Reading about the polar explorers looking for the North Pole made Canada to me a wonderful place. I only hope later in life that I would be able to visit the different regions of this country.
As I’ve grown older I’ve been lucky enough to travel this land many times and only Newfoundland and Labrador remains for me to visit. I cannot name a favorite part of Canada because I enjoy so much of the geography. Certainly Québec is one of my favorites but so is southern Alberta. If you have never walked the streets of Québec city or the trails of Waterton Lakes Alberta, you should get in a hurry. Those two places are some of my favorite in all of Canada.
It is one thing to talk about this land and then there is another thing to feel it. I surely think many Canadians grow old and die and they never feel this land like I have from time to time. Of course what I’m talking about is the way you feel about Canada when you are away from this land. There is never quite a feeling like seeing that Maple leafs again after you’ve been away for many, many days.
Of course many Canadians fall into the trap that somehow we are special to this world. I’m sure even I was there in my youth. However with Canadian troops in places like Afghanistan, the symbols of being Canadian are not as pristine in this world as they once were. For instance when I traveled to Asia before 2001, I would always pull out a Canadian maple leaf and slap it on my bag with pride. However since 2001 that Canadian maple leaf doesn’t carry the same resonance as it did before. When I travel now to foreign lands in Asia, the last thing I think of is putting a maple leaf on my bag. In 2009 it feels more like a target than a symbol of being Canadian.
In my last trip to Asia many of you read my account of how fascinated I was with Dubai. It is a fascinating place and one where all kinds of cultures gather to do business and recreate together. When I was there last January, I felt 1,000,000 miles away from Canada. The skies were dark but it was obvious there was sand everywhere and there was nothing Canadian about this place. Needless to say I thought more than once why is there now a direct flight from Toronto to Dubai? It is pretty obvious to me there must be a Canadian connection about this place. Now four months later since my return there are direct flights three times a week on the world’s largest airliner, the Airbus A380 to Dubai. That’s surely a nice touch for being Canadian, a nonstop flight available to Asia. For a traveler like me, you couldn’t ask for more.
While I was there it seemed I was a duck out of water. Of course it got worse in a day or two later when I turned up in Bangladesh. There I was inundated with young men who only spoke a few words of English. What country you from they’d ask. Of course I retorted Canada. They would look at me and say “KKanadda”. Then we would both smile and look at each other. I think I always felt relief and pride. I think they were feeling amazed and slightly confused. Simply put on the world stage today when people are confronted by Canadians in foreign lands, they think twice.
Of course the reason they think that is because Canadians have always been portrayed as honest brokers around the world. Even though that has changed since 2001, it is still there. Simply put in this country we are very lucky, blessed with resources and for the most part people who care about each other and each other’s traditions and cultures. On our 142nd birthday Canada needs to be celebrated over and over. I understand now what it means to be Canadian. It took me years to feel it in my soul but now at every turn I do and I hope you do too. Happy Canada Day to everyone.