Canada Day came and went Monday, and for most of us it was little more than a nice long weekend to really kick-off summer.
A day to celebrate your country really should be more than that.
Look south of the border to July 4. While there is not a lot about the United States one would favour over what we have here in Canada, we Canadians could learn a thing or two about how to celebrate the day dedicated to our home country.
This year we might wonder if our country isn't showing a few cracks, at least in terms of corruption.
We see a Mayor in Toronto in the shadow of drug allegations, and his counterpart in Montreal is creating even more negative press by his actions.
Then there is the Canadian Senate, under a cloud of suspicion based on the apparent gross padding of expense accounts by at least some of its members.
The situation is one Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed to think would just blow over, but the storm is only intensifying, and there is a nagging suspicion the PM and his staff had to have been aware of what was going on before it became public knowledge, and that there is even such a perception is disturbing.
That we as Canadians even think our PM could have such knowledge and did nothing speaks to a growing distrust of all politicians.
In the case of this Conservative government a Senate debacle is actually made worse when one remembers at the heart of Harper's political machine beats a Reform Party heart, and it was the Reform Party who championed the idea of an elected Senate where voters might turf the bad eggs.
Into his second majority term Harper has done nothing to fix the Senate.
But even with questionable ethics showing among some politicians in this country, there is much to celebrate when Canada Day rolls around.
The ability to write these words and distribute them to the public through a free press being a glowing example.
Canada is not a country without its flaws, but we enjoy the freedoms to openly discuss our problems, and to elect better people to affect change. Those are powerful elements of being Canadian.
And in spite of mistakes made by voters and politicians we have collectively forged a country with a strong, vibrant economy and social fabric, one we should be proud of and in the future boast of just a bit more each July 1.
