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It matters to us
Heading east out of Swift Current, the TransCanada stretches forever. Nothing but sky and the tabletop carrying you homeward. The effect is numbing. Unrelenting flatness. Time slows. Brain chemistry changes.
Then, from the swaying yellow fields of canola, a strange lake emerges. Stretching to the horizon. The sudden body of water is wide, still and seemingly an inch deep. In a land where geography has been etched in just two dimensions, Reed Lake appears as a mirror set upon the landscape. The sky intrudes upon the land.
Miles go by. You notice the flock of large birds, in formation, flying low over the saline water parallel with your passenger window. Consciousness doesn’t recognize them at first. Pelicans. In Canada?
Distinctive long beaks and lunch-storing pouches suggest a creature belonging oceanside rather than on a vast prairie. Yet, Google confirms that indeed, Reed Lake, among a few other salt lakes in the region, host tens of thousands of American White Pelicans on their summer migration. You are 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean.
The moment reveals another wee aspect of Canada that has required a lifetime and more-than-a-handful of cross-country sojourns to experience. A reminder, perhaps, that such wonders nestle unobserved in every corner of our vast nation. Waiting.
Ours is a nation worthy of celebration.
From within. Our global neighbours don’t consider Canada. Nor should they. It matters not a whit that our contributions and achievements go unnoticed beyond our borders.
It matters only that we know them—that we know Canada’s beauty, character, and, yes, history. It matters that we share it with our children and their children. It matters that we stop to embrace Canada on July 1. Warts and all. It matters that we experience the richness of our country. It matters to us.
Always a modest nation—living next to America, Canadians had scarcely a choice— we stumbled through the last decade in a posture of mournful regret. So accustomed to saying sorry, we concluded we were the problem. That if only we settler-colonialists could somehow erase ourselves from Canada’s story, paradise might be restored.
Facing up to past wrongs is important— healthy, even. But it sometimes felt we had become addicted to the endorphins that catharsis released—that there was something noble or productive in self-flagellation. Worse, we deluded ourselves into thinking this way was a substitute for clean drinking water in Attawapiskat.
The threat posed by Donald Trump seems to have aroused Canadians to the worth of our nation once again. This is a good thing. (Good, despite the fact that it required a grotesque threat to re-ignite the flame.)
Slowly, but surely, the shrouds are coming off Sir John A. Macdonald monuments across Canada. A signal, perhaps, that we may once again talk about history with some nuance, some context—that our story isn’t the binary narrative espoused by any individual (victor or vanquished, oppressor and the oppressed, indigenous or settler).
We have always been much more than one story. More than the sum of our accomplishments. Of our sacrifices. Of our geography. We have always been more than our failings. We used to be able to talk about such things. Perhaps we can again.
If ever there were a moment to celebrate Canada, it must surely be now—when the globe is racked by fear and pocked by drones and missiles. (From Tehran, New York City and Prince Edward County are barely distinguishable on a map). Not as some beacon, not as a symbol of a peace-loving, virtuous nation, nor as a smug, self-satisfied ribbon of humans. Frankly the world doesn’t care. And never did.
We celebrate Canada because it matters to us.
There is no better place to do so than in Wellington on Canada Day. Please consider making your way to this fair community to join in the celebration of Canada.
Festivities get going on Monday night with a dance in the park followed by fireworks on the beach. On Canada Day, the parade kicks off a day of activities that includes a strawberry social and music in the park. On both days, Wellington retail businesses are hosting a street sale to celebrate the reopening of Main Street.
Modest. Yet proud. Eyes wide open. And ready to get on with it.
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