Proud To Be Canadian

I was reading through some of your letters, and I have to say there was one that offended me quite a lot. The post was titled “Ashamed being Canadian.” I thought I should put my two cents in with regards.

It bothers me so much to hear people ashamed to be Canadian for a reason such as the Missile Defense Program. Exactly what do we need to be defended from exactly is what I want to know. My last account of the world news is that most countries are pissed off with the Americans, and not Canadians. We are a peacekeeping nation, yet we “don’t have the balls to stand up for ourselves?” Telling the American government that we do not want to participate in the Missile Defense Program is standing up for what most Canadians believe in.

Much like the decision to go to war with Iraq, the Canadian government decided that Canada was not going to participate. There were few Canadians that said close to the same thing, “Canadians don’t have the balls to stand up for what’s right.” As Canadians, we decided that arbitrarily attacking a country without collecting all the information, and waiting for the UN to decide what to do with Iraq. I don’t agree with what was happening in Iraq, and I’m sure that the changes being made will be better for the country in the long run, but at the expense of what?

I think being ashamed of being Canadian is very short sighted. Hoping for missiles to land in Martin’s back yard is just plain stupid and immature. Asking for help from the French, Germans or the Russians, well I’m sure they would be glad to help all they can, with open arms.

As for the Americans that Canadians don’t deserve anything from. Let me remind you that the Americans don’t deserve our help with whatever their government wants to implement as much as Canadians don’t deserve from the Americans. Softwood lumber, Canadian cattle restrictions, crude oil and the export of our power resources are just a few things to list why Americans don’t deserve anything from Canadians!

Don’t get me wrong here I like Americans just as much as the next guy. However, before I let them into my back yard, doing God knows what with their missiles, I want to be certain that our interests are met with regards to the Missile Defense Program. I don’t want to sound cliché, but “I am Canadian!” and I’m damn proud of it!

D.S.