Thursday, July 01, 2010

Some thoughts on Canada Day

 Happy Canada Day!
When I was a young woman I lived in another country for about four years. Upon my return I realized how great my country was and I fell in love with it. 
Today I still love my country, but like every thing, as we grow older we tend to change and that is what has happened to my country.  
As a country we began to think that the grass was greener on the other side. Isn't that always the way? We began to change how we viewed the rest of the world.  In order to fit in we began to get into things that most Canadians find wrong. Like the war in Afghanistan. We began to think that we needed bigger and better and to get this we traded with countries like China,  that do not respect human rights. It meant that we can buy that note paper for pennies, but it also meant that we lost manufacturing jobs.  Canadians have always prided themselves on their position on human rights, but now to keep the lifestyle that most Canadians have come to enjoy many Canadians have chosen to turn a blind eye to trade with countries that routinely violate human rights.  I think that makes us more likely to become blind to the human rights violations that take place within our own Country at times. 
So now, I have to ask are we a better country for the changes? Do we want to give up our ideals;  health care for all, human rights, affordable housing? For what are we giving them up?

For me - I still love my country and cannot fathom living anywhere else in the world, but I am not sure that we have or are changing for the better. I think that maybe, sadly some day there will be a better place for my grand children to live. 




2 comments:

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  2. I think your painful love of your country is depressingly familiar to people around the world. We love the country but not the direction in which it is being pushed by government and other powerful interests.

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