by Susan E. Carr

Created on: December 26, 2011

I live in a country that I lovingly refer to as the "sleeping giant".  That country is Canada - a quiet and unassuming nation who has yet to understand and realize its own greatness.  Canada, the second largest country in the world containing untold natural resources sits quietly on the world stage not wanting or needing to be noticed.  What makes Canada great is the humble way in which it appears to go about the business of day-to-day life without wanting or needing either acknowledgement or accolades from the world at large.

We rarely find ourselves in international news.  For awhile I wondered about this and began to believe that perhaps we were not interesting enough to be noticed.  But then, I realized, that not being noticed much was in fact one of the things that made us a wonderful nation in which to live and to work and to raise our families.  We are content.  The world around us suffers from every kind of ill - which is why they make the evening news reports while we appear to be quietly going about our business.  I began to understand that lack of interest in us was in fact our greatest attritbute.

But attributes abound if one takes the time to discover them.  Canada is a nation with a `heart`, a nation that will not turn away from the needs of its own people but also will help others around the world.  A Canadian will not want to go to war unless they go with the title of `peace keeper`.  Canadians made exceptional contributions to both World Wars, but most people would not know about this to the degree that it actually occurred.  We have always been content to let others take the medals and applaude themselves for a job well done.   

Canada is a country not only of vast space but diversity.  Every province and territory is unique.  Bigotry or racial slurs are simply not tolerated in Canadian society.  Canadians universally accept other cultures.  We believe that we are improved and enhanced by embracing others and while acknowleging our differences, understanding that those who land on our shores will in some way contribute to us and make us richer.

But we are also a very rich nation.  We are financially rich, geographically rich, technologically rich, resource rich and socially rich.  There is no other nation in the world today with the incredible wealth of Canada - regardless of how one measures wealth.  To me wealth means `contentment`, `security` and `peace` - all of which are found within this country, my home - Canada

I have reflected that I will likely be the only Canadian to write about `why I love my country`- but I am not the only Canadian who loves Canada - we are countless in this great nation.  Perhaps taking the time to write about ourselves may interrupt a favorite pass time - a great hockey game.  Our contentment with ourselves continues - and I love this too.

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