We are just a baby in the grand scheme of things. At 159 years old, Canada is older than 140 sovereign countries. If you count from Newfoundland’s entry into Confederation, we are 77, still older than about 110 nations. We are dwarfed by the world’s oldest country, San Marino, at more than 1,700 years. But we tower over the youngest, South Sudan, just a teenager at 15.
That history is dotted with moments of enormous pride. Nearly 110 years ago, Canada became a nation in the eyes of many historians after all four Canadian divisions fought together for the first time at Vimy Ridge.
You can walk through the tunnels today and see names and diagrams carved by Canadians from coast to coast. They were waiting to attempt something so many other countries had already failed to do. Our local regiment, the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, fought there too, among an estimated 100,000 others from a burgeoning nation. We were tasked with taking a hill that seemed impenetrable. Over the next four days, we proved everyone wrong.
After the victory at Vimy Ridge, Brig.-Gen. Alexander Ross famously said he had witnessed “the birth of a nation.”
The phrase has come to symbolize the battle’s importance in shaping Canada’s national identity. It helped earn us a separate signature on the Treaty of Versailles and our own seat in the League of Nations.
Fast forward to 1972. An estimated 13 million Canadians, more than half the country’s population at the time, watched Paul Henderson score the winning goal with 34 seconds left in the Summit Series.
More than 26 million watched Sidney Crosby net the golden goal in 2010.
We’ve stood together through good and bad. We’ve survived a few scares along the way. Now we are approaching another defining moment in our country’s history.
Oct. 19.
Anyone west of 50 Avenue will get another chance to show that Canadian pride. Some corners of social media would have you believe that day will mark the start of this nation breaking apart.
I’ve had the privilege of seeing nearly every edge of this country and meeting people along the way. For the most part, even here in Lloydminster, they are proud to be Canadian.
That maple leaf means more than some want to believe. Our country helped invent peacekeeping. Now, forces outside our control are chipping away at that spirit of one nation.
I’ve only been in Alberta for two years. Many of you will say I don’t understand the deep-seated mistrust of Ottawa. I hear that frustration weekly in this job. But given what’s being revealed, are we really better off alone?
There are uncertainties ahead. But one thing is certain: regardless of how October unfolds, our country will mark its 160th year united as a nation.
Either way, I’ll be here bringing you the good and the bad, with facts. Until then, I look back at our country and feel nothing but pride.
Read more: Guest Column – Canada Day
