Who knew a FIFA World Soccer game played in Los Angeles would unite our country from coast to coast to coast!
But it did.
Sunday, sitting in Vancouver, I could swear I heard the cheering in St. John’s, Newfoundland; Inuvik too; and even Quebec City.
Team Canada … made up of players from across the nation … delivered a gift to all of us, scoring a goal during the final added-on minutes to win the knockout round of 32 against South Africa, sending Canada for the first time ever to the round of 16 next Saturday.
What a great addition to the celebrations we’ll mark Wednesday, July 1, for Canada Day!
And what I have noticed for weeks now, as FIFA fever swept across the land, is the great diversity of those at the games, at watch parties, in fan gatherings or just walking down the street, shopping sporting red Canada shirts ,hats, jackets or flying flags from their homes, apartments, cars.
Go! Canada! Go! was heard in every language, with every accent, accompanied I’m sure by silent pleas to every deity (Lord, Adonai, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Waheguru) praying for Canada to score a goal!
That is my Canada.🇨🇦
A collection of different peoples, colours, languages, faiths, ethnicities, cultures and beliefs … all woven together into a beautiful tapestry that recounts the story of our nation.
And what a country we have created: peaceful, compassionate, polite, friendly and welcoming.
Of course, with any tapestry 159 years old, there is some fraying and even a few weak spots that need mending: housing affordability; poverty; health care; drug abuse and public safety.
And, yes, there are some actively trying to rip holes in our national fabric of tolerance, respect, democracy : there are separatists; anarchists; racists; anti-Semites; and even foreign agents, whose loyalties lie overseas with other countries, and even terrorist groups.
But the threads holding Canada together are strong … bound together by more than a soccer game.
Our tapestry will not only survive many, many more years, decades, centuries but grow even larger, stronger and more beautiful.
🇨🇦Happy Canada Day! Bonne Fete Canada!🇨🇦
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on this Blog.)
🇨🇦🇨🇦Support Canadian jobs! BUY CANADIAN!🇨🇦🇨🇦
Harv did you pop a flight of fancy pill or something. I mean yeah it’s a beautiful country but I disagree with that over the top critique. You seem to jump from one frying pan into another in quick succession. It’s like your saying one minute that it’s a mess, it’s broken, it’s in shambles, the bad political leaderships, the handout blackmail, the immigration and its let anyone in system and on and on, then this. Well I’ll give you credit for being brave to making the commentary but man give it a rest. It’s to much. My eyes were watery, because it did remind me of a different time long ago, when would have believed it.
(Response: I challenge you to show where, in any blog, I wrote Canada is ” a mess, it’s broken, it’s in shambles”. I certainly have critiqued many policies, governments, politicians, media etc. ….past and present: a commentator’s duty, just like the Official Opposition’s duty is to criticize, expose shortcoming/failures etc. … but that doesn’t mean the whole country itself is “a mess, broken and in shambles”. My point was that, compared to other countries, based on everything I’ve witnessed, read, heard, this one has done pretty well, economically, socially featuring different peoples, cultures from everywhere. But that won’t stop my next blog ..criticizing something or other. Ho)
Well that’s pretty well the context you’ve portrayed about our Canadian system through and through and through, that I would say is a bleeding mess led by spineless politically correct cowards. As far the soccer game are concerned, I personally wouldn’t use that dirty word FIFA in the same sentence thats led by a disgusting and morally bankrupt leadership. It’s The World Socccer Games is morally sound. FIFA corrupts the beauty and greatness. Why compare Canada to other countries. Sorry Harv thats a worn out old cliche’. I’ll bet the majority of the common people who’ve contributed and bled for this country would say otherwise about the illusuve greatness and pretty ties that bind us but we’re ripped to shreds because of the political greed of most of our politicians who’ll do absolutely anything if it helps them get a vote, even if it divides and polarizes the people. Gee I wonder what examples of that would be. Ahh, but sorry and no thanks to that goose pimply feelings that just doesn’t pass the reality and smell test of the times. That’s for those whos gods are great .
Not Sure. Thank you for the kind suggestions. I enjoy Fareed Zakaria and I will check some of the others out.
Your input is very helpful.
Cheers.
I know it’s the weekend and we should all be relaxing, maybe having a bit of fun, however I wonder if we had a media that asked the hard questions from our politicians, held them accountable for their actions, then maybe things could be a bit different.
Watching the Saturday news on both CBC and CTV this morning and basically what we’re getting is Taylor Swift’s wedding and how Canada might do in the game later today against Morocco. Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite enjoying soccer and am learning a lot about the sport but I think the chances of us going much further, even if we win, are not the greatest.
Way too many fluff pieces in the news these days. Sorry but I don’t give a rat’s petuti about the dog that got rescued, the cat who picks the winning team or the new seal at the aquarium. I want to know what’s going on in the world.
If that makes me a grumpy old fart, then so be it.
(Response: Canada’s media … print, radio and TV .. have all seen staff cuts after staff cuts for more than a decade now, along with hiring criteria that now far too often seem to emphasize left-leaning political leanings pushing particular agendas rather than true journalists … and their products, along with dropping audiences, are showing that. Sad. Ho)
Daniel. I don’t know exactly what you are looking for but when I have the time and/or doing something mindless like weeding, I listen to podcasts. There are plenty out there and not just the weird influencer types.
CBC Frontburner. Daily episodes about 30 minutes on a single current topic usually with a reporter who is covering the story.
New York Times. The Daily. Similar to Frontburner but with obviously more American stories although both it and Frontburner cover international stories as well.
Fareed Zakaria’s GPS. Weekly. About an hour. He usually covers 3 stories mostly international.
Peter Mansbridge’s The Bridge. Daily except in the summer. He has lots of former colleagues who come on to discuss mostly Canadian stories.
If you are looking for some journalist like Harvey chasing down politicians trying to get them to answer tough questions, then you are out of luck. But I find these kinds of programs quite informative, with more in depth coverage than you can ever see on a one hour TV newscast. Bonus. I can’t listen every day to all of them but they never go away. I can pick and choose which stories I am interested in even those that happened days ago.
If you are worried that my choices have a left of centre bias then look elsewhere.
Rebel News has a podcast. Brian Lilley of Post Media has a podcast. Find what appeals to you. It is way better than being frustrated every night at 6:00.
It is hard to change but media is not and never will be exactly as it was when we were much younger but good journalists covering stories are still around.
Fascinating topic. And context matters.
In Marge’s defence, what she has said has been said, in some form, by multiple people on here. In the famous words of Pierre Poilievre “Canada is Broken”. I am not agreeing with her or Poilievre but look at the last two posts. The BC government is a joke because it can’t build a bridge or a tunnel or whatever is going on down there. And “Wake UP Canada the Jihadists are coming”. And not a contrary comment in response.
The context though is that she is not responding to those posts but to a nice Canada Day post about how lucky we are to live in Canada. And we are lucky to live in Canada. And maybe we can take a break at least one day a year to acknowledge that.
And this is what else is weird. Marge has given us a far more favourable view of Washington state than Donald Trump who thinks that Washington state is a cesspool of radical leftists out to destroy America. Maybe those radical lefties aren’t so bad after all.
(Response: I think radical anyones are bad: left or right, they are so often intolerant, disrespectful of others and even full of hate. Fortunately, the vast majority of Canadians (and every other group) are not radicals, simply people who want to take care of themselves and their families and get ahead and enjoy their lives. The problem is we and those who govern far too often yield the stage and the power to the radicals who are louder and more active than the rest of us. Yes, Canada has problems, but the solutions do not lie with the radicals, but the rest of us who really appreciate the goodness of this country and are willing to work with others… not blame them… to find solutions. Ho)
Just to clarify Harvey, when I said maybe those radical lefties aren’t so bad after all, I was referring to the contrasting views of Trump and Marge in regards to Washington state. I have no idea how radical or well functioning or anything really about the state of Washington.
In your response to me (which I mostly agree with) you said, “I think radical anyones are bad: left or right, they are so often intolerant, disrespectful of others and even full of hate.”
I can’t disagree but … What the heck is a radical? What is woke? What is a leftie or a maple maga? We end up labelling each other, writing each other off, rather than addressing issues.
I would consider myself somewhat woke. I wish I was more woke. Woke means being aware. Your headline a couple of weeks ago said WAKE UP CANADA. Marge in her inimitable way is screaming WAKE UP.
But now woke is used as a pejorative to shut up people with some “progressive” idea that we don’t like. We just write the person off rather than discussing the idea.
Marge is angry, so angry that it would be hard for me to engage with her right now, but I will start with something simple. She is concerned about the difficulty with kids not getting the opportunity to find entry level jobs and blames it on the foreign workers program. I have a pretty rudimentary understanding of the foreign workers program but this is a business oriented program not a leftie initiative and if I understand correctly there are strict rules to ensure that Canadians are not left out. On the other hand, foreign students may be a problem as they are given work permits and may be more desperate to need a job than a Canadian high school kid.
Regardless, though, we should be discussing possible solutions to that problem rather than complaining and pointing fingers. There is plenty of blame to go around.
(And Canada is still a great country despite its problems.)
(Response: You are quite correct “we should be discussing possible solutions to that problem rather than complaining and pointing fingers” … but, frankly, not on Canada Day, which this post was about. No country is or ever will be heaven on earth … but in the planetary alignment of nations, I’d say Canada … despite our issues … is a lot closer to Heaven than most others! Ho)
My uncle always says that Canada is the most beautiful country in the world, but it has a lot of problems. In my opinion, Canada was better in the past. Of course it’s a country with beautiful nature, four seasons, wonderful people and many tourist attractions, but it’s also expensive, bureaucratic, far too dependent on the USA, and led by many politicians who are not serving the country well.
I live in South Korea, and while it’s not perfect here, either, the health care system works well, public transportation is much better than in Canada, there is a no tipping culture, few drug addicts and lower taxes. Here it’s always easy to get a taxi, and food and clothes are affordable. The left here is not so radical like in Canada.
Of course the average salary is lower than in Canada, but taxes are also lower. The fact that many Canadians have left the country makes it clear that it’s not at all perfect, but of course I’ll always be Canadian.
(Response: I too sometimes get nostalgic and think about how things in the past seemed better. But just last week I visited Steveston and the old fish cannery museum there, saw an early processing machine called the “Iron Chink” and it made me recall how the Japanese and Chinese were treated in Canada in “the good old days” … Jews too, First Nations, blacks … well, i’m sure you get my point. Canada today in many ways is much better than it used to be: the problem is, we have too many spoiled brats who don’t appreciate the improvements; we have too many immigrants who have brought their hatred and old country violence with them; we have courts and politicians who no longer seem to put the majority of citizens first, but last. We must deal with these issues facing us, but all things considered, I would not like Canada to go back to the way it used to be. Ho)
Wow. It’s getting a bit nasty out here. Very strong opinions on both sides.
I’ve been very fortunate to have travelled a lot as well. Each time I have always been grateful to return to Canada, warts and all. I feel lucky to live here.
It seems that most of our problems have mushroomed in the last few years, and there is a lot of blame to go around for sure. I am optimistic that things will improve but it will take some time. It has to, especially for the younger people.
One thing I never could figure out myself. People who lived in the poorest areas that I visited always seemed pretty happy and I don’t recall hearing them complain.
(Response: You make an interesting point. As many readers know, I enjoy winter cruises. And I have often noticed that the happiest people on board ship are often those who can only afford to cruise every few years or who have saved for years to take the cruise for a special reason like an anniversary or 50th birthday, etc. and some of the most miserable complainers are those who will tell you.. without asking … that they are Gold or Platinum or Four Star cruisers. LOL! Sometimes people don’t realize how good they have it! Ho)
To Marge
Tell me, what country would you move to? Iran, the US …. Where .. we have our faults I will live with them … we are in a great country …period.
(Response: So true. Every country has issues … and Canada has no shortage of those. But, as I wrote earlier, I have travelled pretty far and wide and although each country has some pretty neat characteristics, ALL things considered Canada is among the best. And I am very thankful ..even if Marge is not. Ho)
Marge, “I guess you haven’t noticed,” everything you mention and blame the NDP for: “homeless, the druggies, grocery prices, devalued dollar, medical waiting times, shooting in BC, etc.” is happening in every jurisdiction governed by every stripe of political bent.
Anyone can play that game and only choose to see things that suit their biased agenda and they can spin.
Your response is laughable, and I await your next stroke of comedic genius, masquerading as an objective rebuttal.
Until you actually experience “my comedic genius” you will never know bad things have transpired in Canada. Everything I have said is true. We have a lousy health system, a lousy judicial system, a lousy drug treatment system, a government provincially and federally that supports antisemitism but hey if you want to turn your back to live in la la land, go ahead. Keep your head in the sand and watch what we turn into in the next few years….. it won’t be pretty. But thank my comedic genius for warning you about it.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. Especially if they are lefties, like the bunch that are here. Lefties also resort in personal attacks and that is very apparent here, more so than any conservatives I know. No point in trying to persuade them of anything. They prefer the welfare and the grocery rebate that their masters give them. As for me and mine, I am forever grateful that my daughter lives in the US, her kids have entry level jobs that they wouldn’t have here and that my husband and I are able to survive thanks to good financial planning on our part, not on the government’s which I am sure most of the leftists here do.
I will not post here again because it is a waste of my time and energy. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.
(Response: Sorry, you are quite wrong when you say we have a “lousy” health system or judicial system etc. No doubt there is a lot of room for improvement… a LOT of room! But if you want “lousy”’, for most people, try Haiti or Iran or Sudan or Russia or .. well, I am sure you get my point. Anyone who reads my blog knows I have found much to criticize at almost every level here in Canada… But yet, I still think it’s one of the best places in the world to live! We just have to keep working at making it even better… but lousy… no. Ho)
Oh Marge. Marge, Marge, Marge.
Thank you so much for coming through for me. All weekend long people will be looking askance at me, as I suddenly let loose with a huge belly laugh, as I recall the hilarity of Marge. And yes, both the belly and the laugh are huge.
I did not then and do not now, disagree with your opinions of troubled times. But if you actually read my words instead of misreading them through translation into your own language, you would have seen I was pointing out it isn’t just an NDP creation, nor even a home-grown BC one.
Of one federal, 10 provincial and 3 territorial governments in Canada, only 2 are of the NDP variety. Why is it AB and ON, at the opposite end of political ideology, have the exact same issues as BC?
So thanks again for the Monty Python routine, and by the way, why is it every right fighter eventually says; “I’m done here”?
You’ll be back.
I am back only to say that there must be something seriously wrong with you to laugh at what is going on in the country or at somebody who points it out to you. I guess when you are a leftie, anything is fair game, again proving my saying that it is the leftists who are most likely to laugh and make fun of others. I guess you really proved that for me. Guess what? I am not laughing.
Most of our problems have been caused by the left leaning federal government. Think immigration, drug addiction approaches, crime, housing, jobs etc and passed down to the provinces. It all started with Trudeau in power and is continuing now with Carney. Sad that your “brilliance” does not recognize the original cause. The leftist provinces just make it worse like BC with their DRIPA and their approach to druggies and crime. I hope you laugh like crazy when your home is burglarized and the criminal gets off scott free or one of your loved ones is attacked in the streets. I hope you scream with hilarity as your taxes go up to pay for native land claims here. Go ahead and laugh at me all you want. But remember s(he) who laughs last laughs best…. Good luck and have a really good look at yourself and your ideals and chuckle like crazy. You deserve it.
And no after this post, I will not be back to post again. I only did this because I wanted again to prove my point that you lefties are absurd and instead of arguing logically you argue foolishly and prefer to attack personally! It’s not in your DNA to be respectful whatsoever.
It’s not worth it trying to prove to people what they refuse to see – how badly our country is going downhill. I will come back in a year or so and wait for the chuckles of hilarity that emanate from the esteemed person that you pretend to be, while you navigate a country that has lots its way and is in serious trouble. Good luck and laugh yourself silly. You have earned it….
(Response: Things never get better by running away. Your views over time have made many valid points… and some others disagree with … but that’s the richness of the democratic system in Canada denied so many others in the world. That’s why I keep blogging… Even when people disagree with me, although for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they can possibly do that! Ho)
You can sugarcoat it all you want but Canada is not the wonderful country you are proclaiming it is.
I guess you have forgotten about inflation and our incredibly high cost of living. Have you bought groceries or gas here lately?
Have you forgotten DRIPA and what that is doing to our land rights (if we have any based on the recent decision)? Wait for a FN tax on your home coming soon thanks to the NDP/Liberal decisions.
I guess you haven’t tried to access a medical doctor lately. My husband has been waiting for over two years for a surgeon. We recently got a letter saying he is on “the list” but that doesn’t mean he will be seen in a timely fashion. Gone to an ER lately and observed what is happening?
Have any grandkids or grand nephews/nieces looking for jobs? There aren’t any to be found thanks to the foreign workers’ program.
Have you heard the word recession? We were thinking of selling our home this summer and talked to several realtors, all of whom told us that there are no buyers out there whatsoever and our home was worth at least $100,000 less than a year ago because of this factor.
We are not the fluffy warm country that you are making us out to be. We are in serious trouble and time to take off the rose colored glasses Harvey. A while back you were complaining about FIFA and now that we have a win, it’s uniting Canada…. give me a break!
(Response: All countries have problems: in fact, I pointed to several of those issues you mentioned. But really, what country do you know of anywhere that is not dealing with the issues you mentioned … or even more? As many readers will realize, travel has been my lifelong joy, and I have been to many, many countries around the world. For the life of me, I can’t think of another place I would rather live after seeing all of them! As for FIFA, I still believe it is overall a waste of public monies: the cost of holding those games should have been born by the hotels, bars, restaurants, breweries, tourist businesses etc that are benefitting from it most. Not the taxpayers! Having said that, it is here so we might as well enjoy it since it is costing us a fortune.Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Ho)
Oh give me a break, compared to other countries, especially down south, Canada is the best place to be.
We have our warts and peccadilloes, but my kids went to school without any fear of being shot and when I had medical issues, they were dealt with fast.
We are lucky being in Canada at this point in time, reasonably safe and able to do what we want without the fear of government interference (mind you, beware of the geese and do not feed the bears!).
It’s Canada Day ENJOY!
Another socialist who wears rose colored glasses and always votes NDP/ Liberal…. Of course you think you are lucky to live here. I guess you haven’t noticed the homeless, the druggies, etc. I guess you haven’t noticed grocery prices either. What’s with you NDPers anyone that you can’t see the forest for the trees? I guess you haven’t noticed how devalued our dollar is. Try buying anything and come back and tell me how cheap it is to live here.
When did you have your medical issues? If here and now, you would wait for hours as we did when my husband had sepsis. We went to three hospitals before he got treated. Guess what? The waiting time has increased. I told about my husband waiting for surgery and just getting a letter recently saying he was in the que but might not get seen for a long while. If you have no medical problems, just wait and come back and report how lovely it is here.
I guess you forgot about the shooting in BC. Glad your kids are safe. Those parents who lost their children on that day aren’t so lucky are they?
And if you have kids, how hard is it for them to get jobs? I bet rather difficult if they are young.
So please take off those blinders and take a walk on the wild side. Visit Vancouver or Surrey and see how bad it is. Get sick and visit an ER and come back and gloat. Unless it happens to you directly you only see what you want to see.
And just to get your dander up. My daughter lives in Washington. Her take home pay is higher than mine ever was as a teacher. She has had better medical coverage that we ever have had. Has had surgery when needed and our handicapped granddaughter is better cared for there than here. So your yapping about America is so silly, because you really don’t know much about what is going on there do you?
It is the greatest country and my birthday arrives July 1st.. Canada being what it is, is truly great. I can imagine after that game with South Africa that Canada went up to the team and said “Sorry” … that’s Canada ……
(Response: Happy Birthday. As many readers know, I winter in Florida, where I spend time with family there and snowbird family from back East. My American friends there have occasionally mentioned that it is too bad. I just can’t move there to enjoy Florida year-round… And are quite surprised when I reply that I would not want to live there! I tell them as a society and a place to live, Canada is much better… If only we didn’t have such difficult winters for somebody, my age who has great difficulty with the cold now and is also prone to slipping and falling.Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Ho)