Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day everyone. I can truly say that I am grateful to be living in Canada - what I consider to be the greatest country in the world. Unlike our neighbours to the south Canadians don't wear their patriotism on their sleeves which I think is a great thing. If it's one thing I've learned in life is that being humble is a great way to live.

The great (I sure am using the word great a lot) thing about Canada is that we are a nation of people who respect each other and each other's ideas, beliefs, etc. We pretty much believe that you can do and believe what you want as long as you don't try to jam it down our throats. Not all our citizens are like this but I'd say a high majority are.

My grandparents came here in the early 20th century to form a new life. Fortunately they landed here prior to the Holocaust in Europe. Immigrant Jews - as many immigrants do they worked hard to give their children the things they did not have. My Dad's dad, Morris Marder, opened up the Model Shoe store in Oshawa to support his family. (http://localhistory.oshawalibrary.ca/pdfportal/pdfskins/Vernon1928/vernon1928.pdf)  He also was one one of the founding members of the Beth Zion Synagogue which is still a vibrant part of the Durham Region Jewish community to this day. I remember sitting beside him in synagogue as a child and I would have to repeat the page numbers the rabbi announced to him because he was hard of hearing. His wife Sarah was from Austria, under the Hapsburgs, and was a big part of the Jewish community as well.

My Mom's parents came from Poland. The family lore is that the day my Zadi (Yiddish for grandfather) landed in Canada in 1939 there was an earthquake. My Bubi (Yiddish for grandmother) would join him shortly after. My Zadi had a ton of jobs from garbage truck driver to store owner. He didn't join a synagogue but made sure his two daughters had a proper Jewish upbringing (when they weren't hiding under the bed when the Hebrew School teacher showed up). My Bubi and Zadi were the only ones left on my Mom's side of the family as all of their family was murdered in the Holocaust. I can remember my Bubi crying on a regular basis. I didn't learn until I was older that she was crying for the family she had lost.

My Dad and Mom (and their siblings) went on to become vibrant Canadians and passed their values and beliefs down to myself, my siblings and my cousins and we in turn pass those beliefs and values down to our own kids. Canada is a country where people from different religions, crees, colours, sexual orientations, etc. can come together in mutual respect and get along.

Canada may have it's problems but they are dealt with in a civil and democratic way. We are a nation of people respected world-wide which is why many Americans put our flags on their backpacks when they travel the world. We were one of the only countries whose banks didn't blow up in the 2008 financial crisis. We love to say sorry even when we're not at fault. We were the first in North America to legalize gay marriage. We love our hockey, our beer and we do say "eh".

Our political spectrum spans the left to the right but no one wants to kill one another over our ideas (at least literally). We may disagree on how to help those in need but we do help them. We may disagree on our education curriculum but we try out best to prepare our children for the future. We may disagree on how to pay for health care and what to pay for but everyone is able to see a doctor when they are in need and not have to worry about paying for the visit. We may disagree on which hockey team is better but we don't punch each other out when our team loses (although the odd riot does seem to break out). Heck we're a country whose allowed a political party to take office whose sole mission is to break up the country. Now that's mellow - or as some would say Canadian.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!!