139 Reasons To Love Canada (I DON'T agree with all of them)

The Vancouver Sun ^ | 7-1-06 | Shelley Fralic

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

 
On this, our nation's 139th birthday, we celebrate our pride of place as a rambunctious fledgling on the world stage, at least by demographic and historical standards.

Our vast 10 million square kilometres, girded by three oceans and the most powerful nation on Earth, is populated by a mere 32 million people, most of them border dwellers and many of them newcomers themselves.

 

Yet, despite our youth, we are universally recognized as a diverse resolute country of admirable character, a land peopled with the descendants of native Indians, stoic pioneers, and new generations of grateful immigrants.

 

We're a respected global peacekeeper, and rich in assets, from our bountiful resources to our big thinkers.

 

And ours is a healthy democracy with an energetic citizenship that holds fast and true to the open secret that Canada is the best place on earth to live.

 

Here, for each year since the British North America Act created the independent Dominion of Canada in 1867 and gave us the July 1 holiday we celebrate today, are 139 utterly subjective, in-no-particular-order reasons to love Canada.

 

1. The toque. For inventing hat hair, Canuck-style.

 

2. Joni Mitchell. The Prairie priestess of poetry. For singing Butterbox Babies and A Case of You.

 

3. Tim Hortons. For brewing coffee that tastes as good as it smells. And for chocolate sour cream Timbits.

 

4. Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Because he could do handsprings, and drove a gull-wing Mercedes roadster. Because he made us think about what our country means to us.

 

5. Polar bears. Big, white, beautiful.

 

6. The anti-gun rack. In which our pickup trucks carry umbrellas, not automatic weapons.

 

7. McIntosh apple. That sweet crunch was brought to you by Ontario's Johnny (Appleseed) McIntosh, in 1796.

 

8. Wayne Gretzky. You don't have to be a hockey fan to call the pride of Brantford a great athlete, and one classy guy.

 

9. Salmon. Our iconic survivor.

 

10. Greenpeace. For raising global environmental consciousness, and for saving whales.

 

11. Paul Anka. From Puppy Love to (You're) Having My Baby, the smooth Ottawa-born crooner has done it his way.

 

12. Agnes McPhail. Here's to the leader of the pack: The first woman elected to Parliament, in 1921.

 

13. Bill Reid. World-renowned Haida artist and touchstone of a vibrant, cherished native culture.

 

14. Perogies. Smothered with butter, fried onions and sour cream. Thank you, old country.

 

15. The Canadian Shield. Impenetrable and massive, this central Canadian layer of igneous rock and coniferous forest is our protective shell.

 

16. Snow. Because we can't control it. And can't stop talking about it.

 

17. Cindy Klassen. Speed skater extraordinaire, her six Olympic medals are the most won by a Canadian.

 

18. The Maple Leaf. Our flag, bold and graphically spare, makes the heart swell.

 

19. Finola Hackett. Because she's gracious and can spell poiesis. And she's 14, giving us hope for the next generation.

 

20. Arthur Erickson. He lives in a backyard Eden, but his buildings are all business, stark and purposeful.

 

21. Melting pot. Our ethnic soup does not always make for a smooth multicultural mix, but mostly it works.

 

22. Alice Munro. The best short-story writer on the planet. Period.

 

23. Bay Street. Because Wall Street needs an evil twin.

 

24. Tilley Endurables. It's rain and sun repellent, has a secret pocket and operator's manual. And it's just a hat.

 

25. Cougar. King of the Canadian jungle.

 

26. Howie Mandel. Obsessive-compulsive, bald, funny. The real deal.

 

27. The Carmanah Giant. Because no one grows trees like we do.

 

28. Emily Carr. Eccentric and brilliant, from The Book of Small to the Kitwancool totem, the quintessential West Coast artist.

 

29. Canola. Good for us, and good for the Prairies.

 

30. Canadian bacon. Make fun if you will, as long as you serve it crisp.

 

31. Bonnie Fuller. Exclusive! The globe's No. 1 tabloid trash queen.

 

32. Quiet pride. We wear patriotism on our backpacks, where it should be.

 

33. Hudson's Bay point blanket. Warm, fuzzy symbolism for 226 years.

 

34. Beer. There are just some things we do better.

 

35. Michael Smith. He's gone, but the legacy of his biotechnical UBC work and his Nobel Prize for chemistry live on.

 

36. The Laurentians. Our coat of many colours.

 

37. In Flanders Fields. The heartrending poppy poem was penned in 1915 by Ontario surgeon John McCrae, on the battlefield of Ypres.

 

38. Nellie McClung. One of The Famous Five suffragettes, we still hear her feminist roar.

 

39. Ben Mulroney. Because he makes his dad seem human, and because he makes more money than Peter Mansbridge.

 

40. Red serge. Our cops, from the musical ride to that sexy uniform, are standouts.

 

41. Newfoundland. Cod, screech, seal pups, that third official language. We love the Rock.

 

42. Narwhal. Think about it. A unicorn. In the ocean. Awesome.

 

43. William and Harry. Because they are real royalty, and hotties to boot.

 

44. Kim Campbell. Our first and only female prime minister. Swished her hips and took no prisoners.

 

45. Prairie wheat. The staff of life. Picturesque cash crop. For miles and miles.

 

46. Conrad Black. For marrying smart, and loving newspapers.

 

47. Celine Dion. Forget the wedding, the husband and all that fromage. It's the voice that counts.

 

48. Maple syrup. Without which pancakes would just be a stack of fried flour.

 

49. Jimmy Pattison. For being a bashful billionaire, and buying the Chairman of the Board's house.

 

50. The White Spot. Here's to Nat Bailey, and his Triple-O cheeseburger.

 

51. Rideau Canal. Ice, skates, twinkle lights, hot chocolate. Norman Rockwell lives.

 

52. Anne of Green Gables. A multimillion-dollar industry, but still our pig-tailed P.E.I. scamp.

 

53. Robert Munsch. We love him, and his children's books, forever.

 

54. Bushes and boulders. Deserts, glaciers, sea shores, tropical forests, rivers, mountains, lakes, plains. Talk about having it all under one roof.

 

55. Todd McFarlane. He illustrated Spider-Man, spawned Spawn and bought that Mark McGwire baseball.

 

56. Giant pumpkins. Nova Scotia's Howard Dill had an idea. It grew to 1,446 pounds.

 

57. Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Invented by Toronto chemist John A. McLaughlin in 1907.

 

58. Manners. Some call us conservative. We call us polite.

 

59. Terry Fox. For still giving cancer a run for the money, 25 years on.

 

60. Water. We have it. Crisp, clean, cold. Lots of it.

 

61. 32 Million. Because we could all move to California, and there'd still be room to roam.

 

62. Grey Owl. The controversial self-adopted native Indian redeemed himself with a devotion to conservation.

 

63. Niagara Falls. Spectacular doesn't begin to describe them.

 

64. Poutine. French junk food. The real reason we put up with Quebec's familial hissy fits.

 

65. Alex Trebek. Who is that sophisticated, stalwart Jeopardy wrangler?

 

66. Sandra Schmirler. Pride of Saskatchewan, she'll always be our curling Queen of Hearts.

 

67. Kurt Browning. Magic on ice, part two.

 

68. Weekly Scoop. It didn't survive the tabloid wars, but gave good gossip while it lasted.

 

69. Smokey Smith. Pte. Ernest Alvia Smith. Late Victoria Cross recipient. Canadian hero.

 

70. Trivial Pursuit. In which two Canadian journalists turn question-asking into early retirement.

 

71. Leonard Cohen. For having a way with words, and lyrics. For Suzanne.

 

72. Michael J. Fox. Dignity in the face of debilitation.

 

73. Lynn Johnston. For turning an ordinary Canadian family, for better or for worse, into a world-famous cartoon.

 

74. William Shatner. Earth to Captain Kirk: you rock our world.

 

75. Eh. Say it loud. Say it proud.

 

76. Norman Bethune. The original doctor without borders.

 

77. Francophones. There'd be no Canada without them.

 

78. Pysanka. Vegreville's giant roadside Ukrainian Easter egg, proof positive that we have a sense of humour.

 

79. Paul Watson. Modern-day pirate. For making environmental waves.

 

80. Toronto Blue Jays. For putting world in the World Series.

 

81. Spotted owl. For shining a light on the creatures in the trees. And because we think Jack Munro once ate one for breakfast.

 

82. The border. An 8,891-kilometre room divider.

 

83. Stuart McLean. The original fireside chatter, his stories unwrap our collective soul.

 

84. Lake of the Woods. 14,542 islands, 65,000 miles of shoreline. Now that's cottage country.

 

85. Glenn Gould. Our troubled musical genius, with the unforgettable keyboard hunch.

 

86. The Bricklin. Which taught us to leave the car business to the big boys in Detroit.

 

87. Peter Gzowski. Proof that a journalist can attract more flies with honey than vinegar.

 

88. Sour toe cocktail. And you think it was gold that put the Yukon on the map.

 

89. Belinda Stronach. For dumping Peter and befriending Bill. For being interesting.

 

90. Mike Holmes: For those biceps and for teaching us the meaning of home renovation caveat emptor.

 

91. The Friendly Giant. Before Bert and Ernie, there was Jerome and Rusty and that little chair to rock in.

 

92. Grizzly bear. Big, brown and beautiful.

 

93. Farley Mowat. The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. Never Cry Wolf. The Boat Who Wouldn't Float. A Whale For The Killing. 'Nuff said.

 

94. Nunavut. For being there, quiet and self-contained, the crown of a nation.

 

95. Burton Cummings. For American Woman. And These Eyes. And because this is my list, and he's my crush.

 

96. The Rockies. Because every country needs a backbone.

 

97. Frank Gehry. From the

 

Bilbao Museum to the Music Experience, his cool, curvy architecture is the new modernism.

 

98. Ken Read. For carving the path to Olympic downhill dominance, and for putting the crazy in Canuck.

 

99. Angus Reid. For turning navel-gazing into a national sport.

 

100. Bob and Doug McKenzie. For making hosers, and the Great White North, totally hip.

 

101. Steve Nash. Here's to the little guy who made it in the basketball bigs.

 

102. David Foster. The master musician and pop producer is there for our sick kids.

 

103. Maureen Forrester. The voice that roared, her contralto has charmed the symphonic world.

 

104. Winnipeg. Mosquitoes, wind, sub-zero winters and pancake horizon, yet 700,000 of us seem to like it.

 

105. Barenaked Ladies. If we had a million dollars, we'd send them a thank-you note just for being sassy.

 

106. Shania Twain. Country siren in a leopard coat.

 

107. Canadian brain: From plastic garbage bags to goalie masks, from basketball to the Jolly Jumper, we have given the world more than one million inventions.

 

108. Blue $5, purple $10. No monochromatic greenbacks for us. Our money is funny.

 

109. Blame Canada. Terrorists. Blackouts. Social liberalism. Thanks, South Park. It's fun to be the scapegoat.

 

110. Sturgeon. That last of the living dinosaurs.

 

111. Que Pasa. North of the border, these Vancouver-made tortilla chips are simply the best.

 

112. Newt Suit. When you're safe and dry, 1,000 feet under the sea, tip your tank to Vancouver's Phil Nuytten.

 

113. Four Seasons. From sea to shining sea, a lovely ever-changing national mood swing.

 

114. Democracy. One free vote. Priceless.

 

115. Simon Fraser. For charting our borders, and taking on those rapids.

 

116. Beaver. Because, as a national symbol, the eagle is just so obvious.

 

117. CBC. It's bad, but we just can't seem to quit it.

 

118. Canadarm. Twenty-five years ago, on the space shuttle, we reached out and touched the world.

 

119. Moose. Improbable forest titan. With quite the rack.

 

120. Inukshuk. Rock's best balancing act, and our ubiquitous answer to Stonehenge.

 

121. Zed. Because we're alphabet purists, and Zee just won't do.

 

122. Ken Taylor. His Canadian caper while ambassador in Iran -- securing the release of six U.S. hostages from Tehran in 1979 -- still carries bragging rights.

 

123. Karen Kain. Tiny dancer, amazing grace under nutcracking pressure.

 

124. Highway signs. Green and white and read all over. Easily.

 

125. Donovan Bailey. 1996 Olympics. 100 metres. 9.84 seconds. Faster than wind.

 

126. Alanis Morissette. Her 30 million Jagged Little Pills proved there's no fury like a pop singer scorned.

 

127. Honest Ed Mirvish. For driving a hard bargain, for enriching Canadian theatre and for giving back to the community.

 

128. Tar sands. The other Alberta oilers.

 

129. Timothy Eaton. Canada's first shopaholic opened that flagship department store way back in 1869 in Toronto.

 

130. Brent Carver. For his Broadway turn, and his Tony, in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

 

131. Dinosaurs. No, not Ralph Klein, but the paleontological pile of bones in Drumheller's Royal Tyrrell Museum.

 

132. Ken Thomson. For his business smarts, and for donating $300-plus million worth of art to our museums.

 

133. Elaine Tanner. The Vancouver-born Mighty Mouse swam her way to the Olympic podium three times in 1968.

 

134. Louis Riel. Because every nation needs a rebel with a cause.

 

135. Roberta Bondar. For going where no Canadian girl had gone before -- into space.

 

136. Larry Walker. A Maple Ridge natural, he set the Major League Baseball standard for rookies like Jess Francis.

 

137. Jim Carrey. Must be something in the water, because we breed the funniest comedians. Ever.

 

138. Canada. It's easy to spell. It means village. What's not to like?

 

139. 139 candles. Because our future is so bright we should be wearing shades.

 

There will, of course, be those of you who take issue with some of these choices, or who are horrified at the omission of other great reasons to love Canada. Let me have it. And them.

 

 
 

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Like I said, BY NO MEANS do I agree with all (most) of the reasons in this article -- just thought it would make for an "interesting" Canadian take on what lies here up north....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

(THE ONE IMAGE MOST PEOPLE HAVE OF CANADA, eh.)

[mc5cents]

Don't agree with: #6; 10; 38; 75; 109??; 121.

Of the rest some I like a lot, Beer for one and most I never heard of.

[Daralundy]

Don't agree with 4 because he was a prima donna who drove out anyone with an original thought from the liberal party.

[GMMAC]

Seemingly, there's a top 10 list in here ... somewhere ???

Left Coast
PING!

[Schweinhund]

55 and 85 stand out.

[fanfan]

Actually I saw this yesterday, but decided not to post it because there was MUCH I didn't agree with.....

#4, #6, #10, #22, #26, #32, #39, #44, #47, #89, #117.


Top 10? Hmmm,.....

#7, #8, #11, #16, #18, #30, #33, #34, #37, #41, #59, #61, #64, #69, #75, #83, #86, #93, #100,....:-D

[timsbella]

#74 Bill Shatner. Sakes. Did anyone notice on cable last night that he was on the Biography Channel AND on A & E at the same time? But GOOD NEWS - NO ANNE MURRAY on the list!!!

[timsbella]

Roberta Bondar but no BOB THIRSK? (Our other astronaut/physician shuttle person.) Marc Garneau deserves a nod as well. No mention of the Avro Arrow. Fortunately, no mention of Tommy Douglas, medicare or any of the Sutherlands (generations of ugly there).

[fanfan]

LOL!

She was 'sort of' there.

Every time I hear "Blame Canada", I also hear, "and that B!tch Anne Murray Too!"

[timsbella]

Candu - the fact that Canada produces nuclear reactors and exports them should have been mentioned.

[timsbella]

Outrage! The Robertson screwdriver, one of the single most practical tools, does not appear on the list.

[Non-Sequitur]

What? No John Candy? Yosh Schmenga must be rolling in his grave.

[NorthOf45]

Actually I saw this yesterday, but decided not to post it because there was MUCH I didn't agree with.....

Aye ... articles like this pi$$ me off. Trudeau???? Give me a frickin' break.

[timsbella]

ahaha - yes and Margaret Trudeau's "friendly thighs"

[timsbella]

#107 - we remark on the Canadian Brain but no mention of Wilder Penfield who actually MAPPED it? (Albeit upside down as we learned a few short years ago, but it was a start.)

[exg]

Dont agree with---"Trudeau, CBC,Belinda Stronach,Celine Dion, Kim Campbell, Quiet pride. We wear patriotism on our backpacks, where it should be,Greenpeace,The anti-gun rack. In which our pickup trucks carry umbrellas, not automatic weapons.(obviously a shot at the U.S),We're a respected global peacekeeper, and rich in assets, from our bountiful resources to our big thinkers."(nonsense)-----not once, did they mention the military which is made up of the men and women who wear the uniform to defend this great country.(they did mention Smokey, which was good of them) In #37,they neglected to mention that McCrae was an Artillery Officer(I guess a little too militaristic for them)--

[timsbella]

Regarding McCrae - the War Museum in Ottawa does a nice job paying tribute to him as well as William Barker, Billy Bishop et al. I have to say I visited last week and was duly impressed. We checked our "quiet pride" at the door when that was built. A little disappointed in the Dieppe exhibit, but overall in awe.

[swampmonster]

Let's see...

Replace
#4 with SCTV which brought us Canadians Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and John Candy.

#6 with James Cameron, if you ignore his private life and no doubt his liberal wold-view, he did bring us the Terminator and Aliens (#2 in the series). He also made Titanic, one of the top grossing films of all time (not exactly one of my favorites but there you go).

#10 with Lorne Greene. Who could forget Ben Cartwright?

#117 with Those guys who extracted insulin for the first time in the 1920's. Millions of diabetics owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

You can replace any of the others you wish for IMAX also.

[x_plus_one]

We're a respected global peacekeeper....

This list is more happy talk and self-indulgence than anything else.