Canada!
I love my country - Canada!
I love it all the time.
To celebrate my country's birth
I'll write a little rhyme.
Ten provinces has Canada
and territories three -
Nunavut is the largest -
Prince Edward Island wee.
The climate varies greatly here
because our land is vast.
Our population's very small
compared to our land mass.
Most people think that Canada
is rather cold I know,
but some places in this land
see very little snow.
Some people think we're rustic folk
who cannot claim big cities.
But anyone so ignorant
a kind Canuck just pities.
We DO have electricity -
I've never seen an igloo.
We don't all say "eh" and "aboot"
or even own a ski doo!
We're rather unassuming and
few of us brag or boast,
but Canada - our chosen land
is land we love the most.
Sharon Flood Kasenberg, July 1, 2016
I love Canada and often get frustrated by the misconceptions people in other countries hold about my country. So today I'd like to clear up a few things.
We Like it Here.
Canadians are not American wannabes. Yes, we find some comfort in being located next to a world superpower, but frankly it scares us silly sometimes. We like visiting our neighbours to the south, but we like coming home again too. Canadians aren't as overtly patriotic as Americans, but we have our own kind of national pride. We're peace-loving people who manage to stay that way without keeping a gun in every closet. We're non-confrontational. We're inclusive. And most of us are happy to be exactly where we are, even when the weather sucks.
It Gets Cold Here Sometimes.
It does get cold in most parts of Canada. We have the second largest land mass in the world (second only to Russia), and that means the climate here varies a lot. The coldest temperatures on record are in Yukon Territory, which is located next to Alaska. Our other two territories, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, are both located at the top end of the country and therefore pretty cold a lot of the time. However, Southern British Columbia is downright balmy with temperatures that seldom dip below freezing in the winter time. Where I live, in Southern Ontario, our winters are comparable to those in many American cities. Snow comes to stay in December or January, and is usually gone by the end of March. I don't fight my way through snow year round, and nobody I know owns a dogsled or rides a snowmobile to work.
There is No Quintessential "Canadian Accent".
Canada is a very big country where accents vary a lot. People in our Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador) have a very different vocal intonations than people in Ontario or Alberta or the territories. We have no one "sound" that can be classified as "Canadian". An American from the south would be a bit confused if you decided to try to sound like them by imitating the accent of someone in Boston - they might not even understand you. The same is true here. Many in Quebec speak French as their first language, so their English might have a French accent. In Western provinces people speak a little slower - with a slight drawl, if you will. Here in Ontario I'm told we speak quickly. As a people we do tend to say "eh" (pronounced aye) instead of "huh" like Americans do, but we don't use it in every sentence. Likewise, this notion that we say "about" like "aboot" is goofy. We might not hold the "owww" (like the beginning of ouch) as long as speakers in some states do, but we don't omit the sound of the u altogether. Honestly!
We're a Progressive Country.
I lived in Mississippi and Louisiana for a period of time in my youth, and the most ignorant questions I was ever asked were:
1) Do you have electricity in Canada?
2) Do you have paved roads in Canada?
3) Do you live in an igloo?
My answers were yes, yes, and NO! Canada has big cities and it has big city problems like traffic congestion and pollution. Just like the USA we have rural areas with gravel roads, but pretty well everyone (unless they're old order Mennonite or a "back to the earth' off grid type) has electricity. We're all as dependent on high speed internet as the rest of the first world. We're at the top of the pack as far as education is concerned, and a whole lot of modern inventions can be accredited to Canadians.
We're Unassuming - but...
Canadians don't tend to run around bragging about how awesome we are. We generally keep our national pride under wraps until someone challenges us. We don't really like that people see as lacking in personality and devoid of culture. We're not bland and boring and we're not insular. We care about the world and pay attention to what happens on the international stage, even if we don't seem to be very involved. Remember - our military presence is small - as is our population.
I can't speak for the rest of Canada, but my biggest frustration as a Canadian is that so few people really know much about my country. We only have ten provinces and three territories, but how many non-Canadians could correctly label these thirteen areas on a map? How many Americans could name five Canadian cities? We grew up learning American history - but few Americans know anything about Canada, and I'm fairly certain many couldn't name the year we became a nation. That makes me sad.
As a nation Canada has a lot to offer. We're big, we're bright and we're beautiful. Our terrain is as diverse as the people who populate it. Visit us and you'll see how much there is to love here.
There's no place I'd rather live, and today I will proudly say it:
I love you, Canada! Happy Birthday to you : )
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