A Love Letter To Canada

On Why Canada Is Worth Fighting For

If there is no other place where I ever feel at home again, this will always be it. If there is no place that reminds me of why I live, this will always do so. And if there is no other place on earth where I feel safe, these grounds will be them. These grounds are sacred to me because they are the only place I have ever felt safe. I may not live in Montreal, but the good news is, it will never leave me, for it is me, in too many ways to count.

I wrote these words some number of years ago, sitting on a park bench in Dorchester Square, explaining to someone why it has the centrality to me that it does, and why I would never let it go without a fight. It’s truer now than it was then, even, and while plenty of my readers wouldn’t view Montreal, or the path down to the Sun Life Building especially, as their place, but I don’t think it would be hard for most people to identify the longing and long they have for a place in my love letter.

I’m thinking about this a lot in the context of modern politics, where 22% of Canadians are either supportive or open to Canada becoming American, per an Abacus poll. That number rises amongst the youth, which makes sense on a lot of levels. This country has failed many people, and it’s unsurprising that many look at the idea of radical options as more tantalizing than they actually are. But it’s still bad that so much of our country will at least listen to an argument against our existence.

We take for granted that everybody else is in the same place on Canada, which is that it being one of the best countries on earth is sufficient to make the case. We rest on the laurels of international ratings nobody understands and a rigid refusal to engage in constructive criticism. We dismiss anger if it comes from the “wrong” people, as if some Canadians having a greater right to hate their government than others is good enough to change the minds of those whose reasons we consider insufficient.

But there is a lot to love about Canada, and it’s worth remembering it. Whether you love this government or hate it, love your provincial one or hate that, whether you’ve won or lost from the choices of Ford or Trudeau or Harper or Redford, there’s a lot to love in Canada.

We are a country that takes for granted its stability, and we shouldn’t. Talk to anyone from a country without the traditions of democracy as bedded in, and you’ll find it horrifying to be constantly unsure whether the whole house of cards might fall down. Since the day Doug Ford won his second term, I’ve known that I will be able to vote against him in time. Those that look forward to voting against the Liberals will get their chance this year. That certainty - and that is a certainty - is never appreciated until it’s at risk. As the scourge of election denial struck America, it made it clear how shaky this can be. It’s worth remembering that we’ve (very luckily) avoided it.

We’re a country of incredible cities, and even more incredible neighbourhoods. We know about Toronto and Vancouver, and anybody who actually knows anything about Montreal knows its diversity, but even in cities nobody would think of it is amazing how diverse they are. The idea you can walk 20 minutes in Ottawa and go from Chinatown to Little Italy to Parliament Hill is a true testament to the power of Canada - and the fact that we have truly made diversity a strength.

We have a country with both coherent regionalisms and a strong collective identity. We have managed to create a national sense of intrigue and curiosity, which allows us to coexist in a country as unique and varied as it is from Newfoundland to BC. It’s a country that has managed to make a group of people of strong ideological differences believe in a common cause, and to strike the right balance between regional needs and the bigger interest.

We’re a country that is getting better at how it treats protected classes and minorities. We were slow in the past on many things, and far be it for the white guy to say that we should handwave the genuine trauma we committed to Indigenous communities away, but we are getting better. My favourite, for a given value of the word, fact is that the first gay marriage happened in Canada before the last 13 US states were forced to get rid of their bans on homosexual sex. It wasn’t until 2003 that the US banned sodomy laws, a mere 34 years after us.

When it comes to the issues of traditional social conservatism - gay marriage and abortion - the right have been utterly defeated. The Conservatives are led by a self described pro-choice candidate who has admitted that gay marriage has been an utter success. As a gay man, it’s quite something to live in a country where my right to marry is not on the ballot every time a government I don’t like is on the verge of winning.

But more than any of that Canada is a great and special country because the people are good. It’s a cliche that Canadians are good and nice and polite but I have seen so many examples of people stepping up when needed and necessary. It’s not about how we vote or how we think, it’s in the small acts. It’s in the lasagna a woman in my mother’s softball league cooked for us when she was recovering from having broken her foot during a game. It’s in the restaurants that communities rally to save, it’s in the people and the places that are there to rally you at your lowest.

We are a country of fundamentally good people trying our best. Do we always succeed? Lord knows we don’t. But we try. We are a wonderful, beautiful experiment in attempting to be good, and we do more good together than we ever could alone. We are a testament to the virtue of caring, and of not letting the ties that bind us together fray too much. And we mustn’t lose that.

We have an election this year, and a lot of people are going to vote against my preferred outcome. That’s fine. But we cannot let ourselves lose sight of this country. This imperfect country, sure, but this country that has given all of us so much. Canada is worth fighting for, and worth loving, and worth protecting. And I will believe that until I draw my final breath.