Canada is a year-round commitment

Tomorrow is July 1­—the day when Canadians shed their collective timidity about waving the flag and celebrate what a great country we live in.
There will be parades, music festivals, street parties, and, of course, fireworks. There will be speeches from our politicians and others—all waxing nostalgic while extolling the virtues of this wonderful land.
“Turn on CNN for 15 minutes and then go outside and kiss the ground of Canada,” legendary Canadian rocker Burton Cummings told the crowd as he and Randy Bachman warmed up those attending a Bon Jovi concert at Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick on Saturday night.
“We are one of the last places where you can live like human beings. So whatever God you pray to, thank him or her that your live in Canada,” Cummings added.
Well said, and perfectly true. Too bad it’s a message far too many Canadians brush aside starting on July 2, when the inevitable grumbling begins anew.
Canada Day is a cause for celebration. It’s a time for all of us, from coast to coast to coast, to relish our national identity—and count our blessings. Sure, our country isn’t perfect, but one only has to look to the post-election turmoil in Iran, war-ravaged Afghanistan and Iraq, the constant bloodshed in the Middle East, the destitute living in Africa, Asia, and South America, and those ravaged by earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters to realize just how lucky we are to call Canada home.
Yet, somehow, after our one-day show of patriotism and gratitude, just as quickly it’s all forgotten. We get back to putting regional interests over national ones, and leaving the teaching of Canadian values and traditions to beer commercials.
We have flunked miserably when it comes to teaching our history in schools so children grow up knowing who our first prime minister was, when the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place, and what Louis Riel looks like. To know the pioneers who blazed the trails, and how our country was forged. How, after all, can we expect upcoming generations, and new Canadians, to build our future when they have no past as a foundation?
We sing “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,” but that certainly doesn’t mean for one day a year. Keeping a nation vibrant, prosperous, and evolving is a challenge all citizens need to shoulder each and every day.
Our country warrants—and deserves—a year-round commitment; not mere lip service that fades away with the last fireworks burst on Canada Day.