Quelques Arpents de Neige (A few acres of snow)
“Vous savez que ces deux nations sont en guerre pour quelques arpents de neige vers le Canada, et qu’elles dépensent pour cette belle guerre beaucoup plus que tout le Canada ne vaut.” – Voltaire
If only Voltaire could see us now! So much for his “few acres of snow”!
Yet in many ways it has been the non-glamorous facts of geography and of history that have made us, Canadians, lucky. Hear me out.
Our climate sucks. Make no mistake. No sensible people would choose half a year freezing their asses off, shoveling snow, and huddling inside. Salt on the roads rusting out our vehicles. Huge sums expended just to keep us from freezing.
And despite the fact there are now forty million of us, we live so far apart that visiting friends on the other side of our expanse is a full day’s journey. From St. John’s to Victoria is six and a half hours in the air, the same time it would require you to go from England to Kazakhstan. Alternatively, you could drive it in around a hundred hours.
Within our vast borders lie 20% of the world’s total freshwater resources, 9% of the world’s hydroelectric power capacity, 20% of the potash, 10% of petroleum reserves, and 9% of the earth’s forests. Not to mention ridiculous amounts of iron, coal, nickle, uranium, copper, and rare earth minerals.
The real wealth of Canada, though, is not her resources, but her people, who, according to the OECD, are the most educated on the planet, featuring world-class universities and research establishments. More importantly, though, is the way we treat each other, with respect and compassion. In this country, it’s not OK to reserve good health as a privilege of the very rich, and it’s not OK to equip every Tom, Dick, and Harry with enough lethal weaponry to take out the next town. We see things differently. Being civilized has a practical meaning.
We didn’t get here, though, because we’re smarter or wiser or more blessed, but because, I think, of a quirk of history shared by few others. Here in Canada, not counting the First Nations (a whole other story), we had two founding peoples who got stuck with each other. (Only the Finns come to mind as an equivalent. And, I suppose, the South Africans, but on steroids.)
There were just enough of each, and dispersed geographically, that it would have been difficult for either to “ethnically cleanse” the planet of the other. At first, to be blunt, each didn’t like or respect the other, but we had no choice but to cohabit this land. And from cohabitation, by necessity, came co-operation, and from co-operation came respect, at first grudging, then genuine.
When I was a kid, there was endless grousing about French on Cornflakes boxes and the occasional bilingual road sign. Today, nearly all of my grandchildren are functionally bilingual. In my lifetime we’ve gone from a grudging accommodation of one other official language to a joyous embrace of hundreds of other languages and cultures, some of them part of us for a century or more, some recent additions, but all part of the tapestry that is Canada.
From our hardships and our challenges we’ve built a G7 nation second to none other in the world, a land of prosperity and hope and opportunity and equality and fairness where we can face the future with confidence.
Happy Canada Day!
Bonne fête du Canada !
ᒥᔪᐱᒪᑎᓯᐃᐧᐣ ᑲᓇᑕ ᑭᓯᑲᐤ!
ᖁᕕᐊᓇᖅ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᓪᓗᖓ!
Minobimaadiziwin Gichi-mookoman-aki Giizhigad!
Frohen Kanada-Tag!
Buona Festa del Canada!
Feliz Dia do Canadá!
¡Feliz Día de Canadá!
Szczęśliwego Dnia Kanady!
Щасливого Дня Канади!
С Днём Канады!
加拿大国庆日快乐！
加拿大日快樂！
कैनेडा दिवस की शुभकामनाएं!
ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦਿਵਸ ਦੀਆਂ ਵਧਾਈਆਂ!
Maligayang Araw ng Canada!
கனடா தின வாழ்த்துக்கள்!
عيد كندا سعيد!
روز کانادا مبارک!
Dydd Canada Hapus!