Canadia

I just drove one of my favourite highway drives on my way to my parents place. It is a nicely twinned highway with with big beautiful blue skies, fields and forests, and lots of familiar sights. It was made even better by the fact it is the Friday before the Canada Day long weekend so the radio station was doing an all CanCon request show. So driving down a beautiful Alberta highway listening to a stunning variety of Canadian music on a perfect Canadian summer day. Fantastic. And tied so perfectly into what has been on my mind lately - what does it mean to be Canadian? More specifically what does it mean to be Canadian when not living in Canada?

Becoming Canadian is easy. I know people who are first generation in this country and consider themselves fully Canadian. I called my mother (who was born in California and moved here in her pre-teen years) the other day to ask her if she considered herself Canadian or American - the answer was Canadian.  Many countries in the world are not so opening, and many identities not so easily adopted. But if it is that easy to become Canadian, what does it really mean?

The stereotypes abound of course, and I actually love them. The polite, line-waiting, sorry-saying people we are supposed to be. Living in igloos (I should point out it is 27C as I write this and any ice would melt in moments) and driving dog-sleds. Though my grandfather really did do dog sledding at one point so that's a little true in my personal history. Beer drinking and campfire loving outdoorsmen & women. Environmentalists yet destroying the environment. Oil and water and mining and marijuana (at least if you ask about BC) and rodeos and cities and mountains and rivers and lakes. Country bars and ethnic restaurants and dance clubs and raves. Everything all in one. 

While travelling in the UK I was often asked what part of the States I was from. My answer of "the Canada part" was generally received with comments on how my accent was just that tiny bit different and discussion of how much Canada and Canadians are liked. Or Canadia from some people. My friend was told by one person that they had the "golden ticket" because they have a Canadian passport.  But why?

By the way - if you are hoping I will eventually give you an answer you should stop reading now. My brain is aswirl with questions, not with answers. I don't know if I will ever figure this out, though I am curious what you all think.

At the end of the day all that I know is that I am proud to be Canadian, even if I hate how the politics is going and the decisions being made. I'm proud to be Albertan even though I have always disliked the politics and disagreed with a lot of what happens. We saw the best of Alberta in the last couple weeks, the best of Canada, as we dealt with disasters. It made me even more proud. Whatever it means I will celebrate being Canadian as much as I can on Monday and take in as much of Canada Day as I can since I get on a plane a week later. 

As this has been wordy I am going to finish with some pictures of the beautiful places I have been in this country: