Happy Canada Day!

Before I start spouting off maple-tinged patriotism, I'd first like to apologise for my lateness in posting. It's been a long time. I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to. Step to step to step to...

Today is Canada Day, and for Americans who barely know their own history I'll briefly explain what that means. On July first, 1867, four British colonies joined together in a federation called the Dominion of Canada. They were Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada, which split into Ontario and Quebec. This act of federation created an independent Kingdom out of Canada, although Britain held some degree of power until 1982.

What does all that mean to me, a 22-year-old almost college graduate who at this point has lived in the United States for three quarters of my life? It means so much.

Being a Canadian citizen means belonging to a country with a rich history, not entirely bloodless but devoid of imperialism. It means being a part of a true melting pot, a place where multiculturalism has worked almost from its beginning. When I lived in Vancouver, my friends were Indian, Chinese, Anglo, Russian, and were Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, and Buddhists. That diversity would not be reached again in all my years of living in America, until I finally got to college.

Canada is my North American escape pod. If I need to distance myself from the American tendencies of illegal war, environmental degradation and cultural imperialism I know I always have a home above the 49th parallel.

I am proud of the Canadian soldiers who gave their lives in the poppy fields of Flanders during the Great War. I am proud of the men who stormed Normandy in World War II. I am proud of the government's decision to stay out of Korea and Vietnam. I am proud of the soldiers giving their lives as we speak in Afghanistan, the war that's almost forgotten as the rest of the world wonders what the hell is going on in Iraq.

I love hockey, I love universal health care, I love gay marriage. I love Don Cherry, I love the Kids in the Hall, I love SCTV, I love Dan Aykroyd. I love that Toronto is the kind of place where a draft-dodging Rick James can play bass alongside Neil Young in the Mynah Birds, Motown Records' first rock band. I love that the beer is cold and different from water, unlike its American counterparts. I love that I can sing the national anthem without straining my voice or mentioning bombs. I love the juxtaposition of beavers, loons, sailboats, polar bears, and Queen Elizabeth II on money.

God keep our land glorious and free. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!