Some years Thanksgiving comes and goes and it seems little more than a day off from the drudgery of our 9-to-5 lives, and a reason to consume too much turkey and pumpkin pie.
But this year there did seem that a day might well have been needed to pause and reflect just a bit more than usual on the multitude of positives we enjoy as Canadians.
Certainly there is much swirling around our world which seems poised to disrupt things.
We need look no further than across the 49th parallel to the United States where a country we often see as a big brother seems bent on self-destructing.
The battle for presidency has to have any moderate voter questioning how the self-proclaimed greatest country in the world has somehow painted themselves into a corner where the best choice they can offer for president is Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
One can’t imagine either candidate inspiring much confidence beyond the diehard party supporter with the mentality of a lemming to support whatever name appears on the ballot.
Looking from beyond the U.S. border neither exactly creates any level of confidence in terms of being the world leader the American president by force of arms and money has carved out for itself the last century.
Closer to home social media is in overdrive from disgruntled Stephen Harper supporters who are deeming Liberal leader Justin Trudeau as the worst leader in history. Regardless of where your heart lies along the political spectrum the label of ‘worst’ is difficult to support based on a single year in office. Such taglines are ultimately reserved to be applied from the sage perspective of future reflection.
To be sure Trudeau sees this country as more inclusive, more environmentally aware, a country with a greater role in leading the world by example than his most recent predecessor, and that means a rather large shirt in approach from Harper.
Of course the reaction of some, the call for western separation does remind of a cranky child no longer getting his way so they throw a tantrum.
But looking past the fringe, there is discontent in reaction to Trudeau, particularly in Saskatchewan and Alberta where he has a scant voice on the government side of the House as we stayed stalwart in support of a conservative vision for Canada’s future.
But Canada will sustain through Trudeau, love him, or hate him, because it was recognized decades ago there was greater viability in a country coast-to-coast, and while the strengths within our nation do swing at times, the combined elements remain one of our greatest strengths.
We have built a country on the sweat of waves of immigration.
We have found a way to come to terms, for the most part, with the First Nations we transplanted.
The core of our country is tolerant, recognizing worth in all races and religions.
These are the things it is hoped we reflected on after eating the turkey, simply that as Canadians we live in a unique and rather wonderful country that will endure amid the swirl of confusion that the world now seems stuck in.
