Canada Day

     It's Canada Day. I'm enjoying my second cup of coffee as I write this post. I'm in the backyard of the little tumbledown duplex that I call home. I want to write about what it means to be a Canadian without this piece devolving into jingoism. The great attributes of this country have been written about at great length by scribes far more erudite and eloquent than I. 


     I guess that what I'm trying to get at is the essence of this nation. It is a beautiful place made all the more beautiful by the people who inhabit it. In this past year, I've had the pleasure of heading north on several camping trips to places like Manitoulin Island, Killarney and  Algonquin Park. I had the experience of hiking some trails that, while challenging to a 54 year old, out of shape curmudgeon,  led me to vistas that were
 breathtaking (both literally and figuratively) in their beauty.

                                                           Sunrise On Manitoulin



                                            View from Booth's Rock, Algonquin Park, Ont.



Sunset On George Lake, Killarney Provincial Park, Ont.



Georgian Bay, from George Island Trail, near Killarney, Ont.

 

     Ok, So much for the physical beauty of this place that we call our home and native land. It's almost too easy to post some pretty landscape pictures and call it a day. I think what really makes this place rock is the people. 
                                                                                                                                                                    In the past few weeks, I made some interesting observations regarding the political landscape of the nation. In Ontario, Kathleen Wynne won the election to become the first female and first openly gay Premier of the province. At no time during the election was her gender or sexual orientation an issue. She won despite the fact that the government she inherited from her predecessor was scandal plagued to the tune of billions of dollars. Her opponent, Tim Hudak, ran on a platform of reducing the government payroll by 100,000 jobs and shelling out more tax relief to big corporations in the vain hope that one million new jobs in the private sector will be created. That Mr. Hudak was soundly defeated speaks volumes about the nature of the people of Ontario and, I believe, the people of Canada as a whole.

     It's not all about the money. It's about being a kind, compassionate, open minded people. It's about caring for this land we all share. As Canadians, we don't sell out some of our fellow citizens in the slight hope that there will be more on the table for a few of us.
  
     Perhaps the true essence of this country is the spirit of inclusion and cooperation as opposed to the politics of divisiveness and greed. 

     I guess that what I really want to say is, while we have a beautiful country it's the people that make it great.
    

          Happy Canada Day everyone.


                                             ...more later