Celebrating Canada Day And The Fourth Of July Through Turbulent Times

By Doug Draper

High jobless rates, talk of ever deeper recession, cuts to education and health care, oil gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, rising casualty rates for our troops in Afghanistan, and the seemingly never ending fear of another terrorist attack.

These days it takes courage to read through a newspaper or turn on the television news. No wonder so many people want to lose themselves in soccer, Lady Gaga and Dancing with the Stars? And now here we are, with Canada Day and the Fourth of July upon us, and like many of you, I have put out my Canadian flags and the stars and stripes in honour of my many American friends, even while wondering what is left to celebrate.

Certainly there is little reason to celebrate our governments that spend more time bowing to the Bay Streets and Wall Streets, and to the BPs, Exxons, ITTs and other tans-continental corporations than they do representing us.

At the recent G20 summit in Toronto, Canada’s prime minister and America’s president were holed up inside a heavily-policed, fenced-off security zone – what was sometimes referred to in the press as “the cage” – with a handful of other leaders and about 10,000 faceless bureaucrats they called delegates. In there, and without any scrutiny from the media or members of the public, they worked secretly away, ratifying agreements that could impact on the lives of the rest of us – or what the chairman of BP recently called “the small people” – for decades to come.

The way I see it, one of the few things left that keeps me wanting to celebrate on this Canada Day and Fourth of July is all of the ‘small people’ out there who still care about working for a better quality of life for present and future generations. At that same G20 summit, and despite the mayhem caused by a few hundred hooligans that captured so much of the press, more than 20,000 peaceful demonstrators gathered in support of groups and speakers fighting for fairer trade, health care, environmental protection, food for the world’s hungry, and on and on.

A street scene at the recent G20 summit in Toronto. The 'small people' are on the right.

In a Canada Day message, Maude Barlow, head of the nation-wide citizens group Council of Canadians and who participated in the G20 demonstrations, had the following to say – “As we celebrate another Canada Day, I wanted to take a moment to wish you all well. You are all a very important part of making our country strong and ensuring that we are at the forefront of protecting our vital social programs and natural resources. As our voices come together united in asking governments for trade, water and climate justice, we are building momentum; a momentum that won’t be stopped. A better Canada is possible.”

I am quite sure a comparable statement could be made about the United States by a Maude Barlow counterpart on behalf of tens-of- millions of American people who share the same concerns.

Scanning down through all of the pieces posted on Niagara At Large through the last six months since its launch, I am reminded of all the people on both sides of our border raising their voice for health care, for a cleaner environment, for preserving public spaces and heritage sites, and for participating in the arts, and in other recreational and cultural events that make our communities better places to live.

When I think of everything we the people – however “small” some may think we are – are doing and can still do to build better communities, I still feel there is hope, and I suspect many of you out there still feel there is hope too.

If we didn’t, I would not be able to keeping posting news and commentary on Niagara At Large and you wouldn’t be here as a reader, offering your own comments and contributions to it.

Have a pleasant and peaceful Canada Day and Fourth of July, and let us all pledge to work together for better days ahead!

(Click on Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.)