Bonne Fête Canada!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!

In honour of our country's 143 birthday,

I give you once again Shane Koyczan's

We Are More.

Every time I hear this poem, my heart just fills up to spilling over with love and appreciation for my country and gratitude for the luck of being born here. There is truly no other place in the world I would rather live.

During the 2010 Games, I was witness to the birth of a new attitude amongst Canadians about our sense of patriotism. We're known worldwide as being oh-so-polite and humble about our love for our country. We don't tend to make a big show of waving flags-so much so in fact, that our Prime Minister had to encourage us to feel free to do so and worry about apologising for it later.

Yes, we are a funny bunch, shy almost in our pride in our identity, but all that changed during the Games-I began to see flags flying from apartment balconies, in windows of houses and on cars driving by. People stood in line for 3 or more hours at the Hudson's Bay just to have something in our national colours to wear. The streets were awash in red and white. Suddenly it became cool to be Canadian. We threw our humble hearts wide open and embraced our greatness with a fervor none of us had ever seen before and it felt good! Even the great Brian Williams commented on it in his closing remarks for CTV.

I am excited that today I will be out amongst my beautiful people, sharing the day in celebration of this amazing country we call home, OUR TRUE NORTH STRONG AND FREE!

P.S. The Olympic Flame will be lit outside of Canada Place tomorrow. To see how beautiful the post-Olympic installation is, you can get a wonderful peek here.

Happy, Happy Canada Day my friends!