Five Reasons it’s Great to be Canadian

I was born in Canada, and although I only have a handful of stamps in my passport, I would never want to live anywhere else. Don’t get me wrong – like our neighbors south of the 49th parallel, Canada has some nasty skeletons in its historic closet. But at the moment, our country is hosting its third Olympic Games and it feels like a good time to reflect on a few reasons why the country is so awesome.

Universal Health Care
Since Tommy Douglas’ Medicare system (the name given to publicly funded health care) was made national in 1966, it’s been a cornerstone of Canadian identity. The system isn’t perfect, but when push comes to shove, Canadians don’t pay for their ambulance rides. I watched an episode of House this week where a man asked the hospital not to reattach a thumb he’d lost because he wasn’t prepared to foot the bill. Not having to worry about that kind of scenario (fictional or not) happening in Canada is a privilege that isn’t common everywhere in the world.

Coast to Coast
In Hard Road, Sam Roberts sings about a girl whose “soft brown hair is as long as the Canadian highway.” It’s a long way from ocean to ocean, and on the way, you pass through the Great Lakes area, the Interior Plains, the Western Cordillera, and the Rocky Mountains (my favourite). As for the weather from coast to coast, the country is nothing but one weather phenomena after another – and if you’re a fan of the outdoors like me, you have to love it.

The Diversity
Ethnic pluralism is another facet of Canadian identity that’s easy to be proud of. Since the 1976 Immigration Act, Canada has allowed culture after culture to take root here. I would say that the majority of my friends have parents or grandparents who were born somewhere else. Filipino parents. A Swedish uncle. Maybe a few Italian cousins. New immigrants aren’t as pressured to assimilate into the mainstream, so diversity is just the norm here.

The Sports
A nice byproduct of a crazy climate is the fact that it paves the way for a lot of different sports. You can surf here, you can ski here, you can do pretty much anything here! Hockey and all things on ice, of course, are the favourite national pastimes. And since 2005, when the “Own the Podium 2010” program was launched, extra government funding has pushed our top athletes into the realm of absolute winter sports dominance. Get ready for a show!

The Flag
Canadians can travel pretty much anywhere in the world without fear of persecution – a rare feat for any nationality. People everywhere respect the maple leaf. So iron it onto your backpack! (This is the excuse I tell people when they make fun of me for buying too much Hockey Canada apparel. I’ll confess, I think my family is personally responsible for the vast majority of its merchandise sales.)