Today I have an extra opportunity to think about and reflect on why I am grateful to be Canadian. I am grateful to live in a country with an incredible health care system that takes care of me when I’m sick. I am grateful that when I enter any hospital from coast to coast , and when I need it most, I don’t have to worry about whether or not my insurance will cover me. I am grateful to live in a country with a police force that protects my safety and keeps the peace. I am grateful to go to sleep at night to the sounds of the wind and rain and not gunshots and exploding bombs. I am grateful to live in a country that celebrates diversity and allows me freedom of speech, tradition, and religion. I am grateful to live in a country where I can access incredible  education – and my government will often pay for most, if not all of it. I am grateful to live in a country free from fear and persecution. I am grateful to live in a country that is full of abundant and diverse natural beauty. I am grateful to live in a country that offers me clean drinking water with the turn of a knob.

Today, and everyday, I am grateful to live in the true north, strong, and free.