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Happy 150th, Canada

Would you rather live anywhere else?
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IN these modern times when it is so easy to be cynical, where entitlement is assumed to be a birthright and where social media fuels that cynicism and entitlement, ask yourself this question - would you rather live somewhere else than Canada?

Probably not. And for those who would say otherwise, help them pack their bags and wish them good luck.

For as many faults as this country may have, it’s a pretty darn good place to live.

Many of us will have either direct memories or ones handed down over several generations of what life was like in the “old country” and why the decision was made to move to a new land. By and large, those decisions to move were made out of a desire for something better or to escape the prospect of something far worse.

Could Canada do better?

Absolutely. This country’s greatest blot remains the situation of substantial portions of the indigenous population where so much potential is either lost or not fully realized because the necessities of everyday life – clean water, food, housing – are lacking. Still, progress is being made and each step forward strengthens the country as a whole.

So take a minute and think about those things on this July 1, the 150th anniversary of Canada.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the prime minister from 1896 to 1911, once mused the 20th Century would belong to Canada. Make that the 21st as well.