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On the eve of Canada Day I generally reflect on what it is to be a Canadian. As my computer is in the hospital at the moment and I only have access at work, I decided to post this a few days early. I have traveled a bit over the past two decades and in response to spending many Canada Day celebrations outside of Canada I share the following with you. (Note: I'm a life long Winnipegger and I write from that experience!) . Enjoy!

Deb

“Oh, Canada!”

Take a step back in time with me to when you were five or six years old. There you are, standing “at a tension” in the gym with the entire school for an assembly. You try your best to join in on a song you have only heard during Hockey Night in Canada if you were fortunate enough to have a television. Your arms are parallel to your body and your hands are pressed tightly to your thighs. Your eyes face forward and you see the principal standing stiffly at the front leading the school in our national anthem with the music teacher pounding out the melody on an old upright that has seen better days and is probably in need of a tuning. Though you are young, you sense that history is taking place although you can’t exactly come up with that word; you just know that this is an important moment in your life, a turning point. You have graduated from ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ to the big leagues. You now know a real song - a song that is majestic, patriotic, meaningful and a song that will follow you through your life.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

Throughout the world Canadians are known as peaceful people - peacekeepers, if you will. Many a time in my travels, after proudly admitting I’m Canadian, the response of those whose country I was visiting would change - huge smiles of welcome, shared memories of their visits to Niagara Falls, Banff, Vancouver and Churchill, comments on how cold it is here, and jokes about how big the mosquitoes are. Further discussion would lead to comments about our role in promoting world peace and sending aid to countries in need. People would ask me why we do so much for the world, why don’t we simply take care of only ourselves. And I would tell them, its because we are Canadian - it is in our social fabric to reach out, lend a helping hand by volunteering our services to aid all people and make the world a better place for all inhabitants. Our ability and desire to give is a direct reflection of the freedom we have as Canadians. Until you go away you just don’t know what you are missing because you’ve taken it for granted all your life. It is a gift to live in Canada.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

Go back to that five or six year old and picture yourself standing outside in the school yard while the janitor hoists a rectangle of red and white (and blue for the Union Jack). The cloth climbs and climbs to heights unknown and as you watch, a breeze picks up the end of the fabric and seemingly inflates the flag to its full breadth. As it flutters and flaps in the wind you gaze past it into the sky and you imagine yourself up there at the top of the pole looking toward the horizon. For me, I would see the endless prairies - a patchwork of greens, browns and yellows, with ribbons of blue meandering through it. If I could have looked all the way East I would see the entire Canadian Shield, the Great Lakes, the Laurentians, right to the fishing boats off the coast of Labrador. To the West I would have seen the quilted land rise and fall with buttes and coulees until you reached the majestic Rocky Mountains and beyond to the Kootenays and the Okanagan Valley and down to the Coast. To the North I would have seen an endless landscape of snow, polar bears, igloos and Eskimos who were noted for kissing with their noses (go figure, that was a known ‘fact’ when I was a kid!). To the South were ‘The States’ but I didn’t really know what that meant. With this geographical ‘knowledge’ of my country ever present as I grew up, I began to learn about Canada’s history and how it was an entity that had come into its own decades before I was born and continues to evolve to this day. Look around you and really ‘see’ the people in your world. Whether you are Korean, Chilean, Swiss, Russian, Sri Lankan, Thai, British, American or ???, know that you have made a difference to the fabric of Canada by living here.

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

I have celebrated ‘Canada Day’ all over the country and the world. It seems to me the days of simply having picnics, baseball games or fireworks at Assiniboine Park are passe. Now, every town has chosen to have a festival, Wonder Show rides, live music, craft sales, or possibly the ever popular Karaoke contest in Canadian Idol style. Many houses have Canadian flags flying; red and white balloons decorate businesses and garage sale signs; the ‘bang for your buck’ stores sell China-made ‘Canadiana’ stuff that ranges from tasteful to tacky and people are buying it and displaying it proudly! I too buy into this thinking. While living abroad I celebrated Canada Day by going to events organized by the local Canadian Chamber of Commerce or Canadian Embassy. I wore red and white to school on July 1st; I joined other teachers in hosting a Canada Day assembly and participated with my students (yes, indeed, those four year olds could belt it out with the best of us) in the singing of ‘O Canada’. And every year while singing, as tears of joy would stream down my face, I would offer up a silent prayer of thanks for my good fortune at being a Canadian.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

My life journey has taken me all over the world. After several years of living and teaching in Southeast Asia, my employer hosted a farewell party for staff, including myself, who were moving on. A hot, humid day in April found us gathered together telling each other we would keep in touch, extending invitations to come to Canada, sharing e-mail addresses and promising to write. Typically, many speeches were made interspersed with a plethora of dances, skits and songs. As the party progressed we Canadians who were leaving had begun to focus on our upcoming adventures while our Asian co-workers were beginning to mourn the emptiness tomorrow would bring to their lives. An announcement was made that there would be a final tribute to the departing Canadians. As many of us sat in wonder at what could ice the cake after all that we had shared this afternoon from food to entertainment to gifts, our Asian co-workers assembled themselves to sing one final song. As the opening bars of the song began, the six year old within me slowly surfaced. In awe and wonder I rose, placed my arms tightly against my sides and faced forward to see my Asian co-workers in a new light - their eyes focused on sheets of music, singing unfamiliar words with enthusiasm, joy and respect, leading us in our national anthem. As my mouth opened to join in, my face streamed with tears of pride and love for my heritage and my heart soared with longing and appreciation for the ‘land glorious and free’. The first real song I learned so many years ago - received by others and given back - a priceless parting gift, a humble honour, and a gentle reminder that life is good.