Today marks the 142nd birthday of the only nation to ever burn the White House. Since it happened nearly 200 years ago, we aren't holding a grudge. This nation has been a close friend, ally, trading partner, our largest energy supplier, and for over 100 years we shared the largest unguarded border on the planet. Happy Birthday Canada! May I take the opportunity to say you're looking great for 142?
Since my wife is Canadian and I have spent a great deal of time there, I want to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about why we should be so grateful to have a neighbor like this.
When Katrina hit in 2005, Canada had a team of Urban search and rescue workers from Vancouver on the ground and working by August 31 and deployed 4 warships and over a dozen helicopters to assist with evacuation and supply. Within 72 hours thousands of beds, blankets, clothing, water, food, and tents has been sent by the Canadian government and were in place before much of the FEMA material arrived. $25 million in cash was given to the Katrina Relief Fund by Canadians and over 1200 homeless survivors were given shelter by Canadian citizens who volunteered to take in evacuees. Engineers, electricians, welders, divers and relief workers were stripped across the country and sent to Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi to help with repairs and clean up as well as the 100's of nurses, physicians, police officers, fire fighters and paramedics who went to help on their own time and at their own expense.
On September 11, hundreds of flights to the US were re-routed to Canadian Airports and thousands of US citizens were stranded for as long as a week. Canadians offered up their homes to these stranded travelers and hotels across Canada offered free lodging to American citizens. Within 48 hours over 700 figher fighters, police officers, engineers, electrical workers, paramedics, doctors and nurses had come to New York from Canada. That number would reach 1500 by the end of the week. Thousands of others came to do what they could; handing out blankets and water, donating blood, giving money, food, whatever they could. My wife and I were in Ontario two weeks after the attacks and American flags hung proudly next to their Canadian counterparts on all public buildings and on too many private homes to count.
1500 Canadian troops remain side by side with our own troops in Afghanistan, the third largest contingent of troops after us and Great Britain. Canada was one of the first countries to support the Afghanistan mission and to be frank have been doing a great deal of the heavy lifting in that war after we in America basically forgot about it. They wisely counselled us against war in Iraq which our government ignored and still supported us even after we all but called them cowards for not coming along on that gigantic cluster**ck.
We in America, when we do think of Canada at all, think of a cold place with polite people that while nice, are all sort of backward. That is a real shame. The Canada I know is one of, if not the most modern, progressive, generous, diverse countries on the planet. Universal health care, higher standard of living, longer life expectancy, better education, lower crime rates, far more sensible approaches to same sex marriage, marijuana, gun ownership, immigration; the list goes on and on.
I love my country and I am never ashamed to proclaim it and to be proud of being an American. That said, I find myself sometimes wishing that being American could be a little bit more like being Canadian.
Happy Birthday all you Canuckleheads! God bless and protect you.