Much of what defined Canada was not being the USA. We had wars with America about this. We like each other but have very different cultures. We were not a collection of individuals. We did not have dreams of empire. We were warriors but not warlike.
Much of what defined Canada was fighting for freedom for others. We played an enormous role in WWI and II - greater than any other allied nation by percentage. We then stood as the honest broker. We were boring but honest and really did care about the world and acted upon that feeling.
Much of what defined Canada was a culture of cooperation rather than an idealism about the individual. Business did not build Canada nor did the gun. The people as part of the state built the nation and the Mounties arrived first in the new territries and with them law based on laws. We had good laws that resprected people.
So on this Canada day weekend, I am sad. We are governed by a party who has been voted in by voters who care little for any of these aspects of being Canadian. It's not just Mr Harper. It's all the people who want a very different country than the one we celebrate.
They appear to want to live in a very different place. It's all about "Me". It's business first. Laws for the rich. Who cares about the world, it's all about me?
I feel as if this weekend is a wake.
