Last year, my citizenship ceremony just missed July 1 by a couple of weeks, so today is my first Canada Day as a Canadian citizen. I moved to Canada in 2013 and have since completed 2 postsecondary degrees, had 3 different careers, met and married the love of my life, and had many, many great life experiences. Canada gave me the life I’d always longed for and so, on this Canada Day, I want to write about some of the things I appreciate about my country.
I appreciate that most Canadians are patriotic but not nationalistic. Most Canadians don’t have the Canadian flag hanging outside their homes or cars and we don’t say we’re the best, but we show our unity when it really matters (case in point: “Elbows up!”).
I really appreciated that in our last federal election, many Canadians were intelligent enough to understand that the same party doesn’t mean the same policies always, and voted in a Prime Minister with proven work experience and expertise in economics. Politics in Canada is not nearly as circus-y and divisive as it is in the US; people have their preferred parties but don’t put party over country. I hope we can stay that way.
I appreciate that same-sex marriage was legalized as early as 2005 and the legislation hasn’t been under threat since.
I appreciate that abortion was legalized in all the way back in 1969. It’s been ridiculously to see this being taken away/threatened in some states down south; it has made me appreciate Canada much more.
I appreciate that the Government of Canada is extremely competent in providing detailed, well-formatted and easy-to-follow online information for various civil matters, such as immigration and taxes. Thanks to this, I did all my immigration applications—including my citizenship application—by myself and the process was always very straightforward.
I appreciate that we embrace multilingualism. The Toronto District School Board, for example, offers classes for many languages for just $20 for the whole school year, including Cantonese. This is such a stark contrast to the Chinese government’s stance on multilingualism.
I appreciate that we have Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a public, non-partisan and editorially independent national broadcaster that provides journalism, news and entertainment.
I appreciate that almost all legitimate universities and polytechnics are public institutions. University tuitions are still expensive, but they are nowhere as unaffordable as the ones down south.
I appreciate that religion—especially Christianity—doesn’t feel ubiquitous in the Canadian social fabric or the political system. As an atheist, I appreciate it’s not a convention for our prime ministers to swear in on the Bible or any religious work.
