Celebrate Canada

Canada Day Logo Tomorrow is Canada Day. I generally don’t think much about Canada Day (except for the fireworks. I love fireworks.), but this year I’ve paid more attention to the news than is generally good for me and have come up with my own list of things to celebrate on our nation’s 139th birthday. Here they are….

I celebrate that…

… as a woman, I can vote.
… I can vocally disagree with the leaders of my governments. I can criticise those who have been elected and appointed to office without fear of incarceration, torture or death.
… I can own property.
… I can leave this country anytime I like and travel throughout it (getting into another country is a separate issue, but you can always get out of Canada).
… I can have more than one child without penalty or prejudice.
… I can (but won’t) get divorced without my husband’s consent or society’s stigma.
… if accused of a crime, I start out innocent (at least technically. Socially, we still need to work on.)
… my daughter can marry whomever she choses when she grows up, regardless of her sexual orientation.
… I breathe clean air, get medical care when needed, have food to eat, fresh water to drink and a roof over my head.
… I can wear shorts in summer and feel the sun on my bare arms.
… I have access to birth control, without argument or manipulation.
… there are no tanks in my neighbourhood and no one has ever set land mines around here.
… my three year-old doesn’t know how to load a gun.
… my child will go to school, not to work in the fields.
… I have the friendship of people of at least five different religious faiths.
… I live in a land of beauty. I want to see all of it before I die.