AN OPEN LETTER TO CANADA
Dear Canada,
Regretfully, I haven’t given you much thought lately. For
the longest time now I guess I just thought of you as our big quiet neighbor to
the north. Arrogantly even, a sort of extension of the United States, a really
big fifty first state. When per chance you have materialized into my consciousness,
visions of hockey, beer, Mountie’s on horseback, and forests filled with pelt
bearing animals appeared. However, the events of the past week have changed all
of that.
The unfortunate attacks that took the lives of two of
your most selfless and brave citizens, whether an act of terrorism or simply
the results of deranged minds with a warped view of their religion, have taught
the world and hopefully my own country in particular, a lesson in dignity,
grace, and a deep commitment to freedom and democracy. As I watched the news
reporting of these incidents I was struck by the absence of something. At first
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But, as I watched the interviews with
members of your parliament, your Prime Ministers address, and the words of your
ordinary citizens on the street, I realized what it was. Nobody was calling for
the building of walls, closing of borders, or the dropping of bombs. Absent too
were the blaming, name calling, and the questioning of patriotism for political
gain. No one was calling for the curtailing of civil liberties, but instead
pointed to liberty as a critical foundation that would not be tampered with or allowed
to be weakened by acts of madness. I saw no politician’s grand standing for
political gain or pointing fingers at them
or those people. Hopefully this will
stay the course and not descend into the polarizing atmosphere of paranoia
present in my own United States of America.
You have taught the world a lesson Canada, and you have reminded
us all of the greatness and freedom so valued on this continent. I will think
of you more often now. I will think of the similar roads we have travelled
through the centuries, and the great allies we have been. I will think of the
example you have set, and of how a free and democratic nation should respond to
those who would seek to destroy it. Thank you Canada.
Warmest Regards,
Joe Quinn
Citizen of the United
States of America