"The unexamined life is not worth living" Socrates

- - scatterings of ideas sent to my younger self, a sensitive girl who was fooled into believing she was a boy because of anatomy - -

Thursday 9 December 2010

Proudly Canadian

There are times when being a Canadian really makes me proud. There are so many reasons for this, I might devote a post or two to it for the benefit of those who might not be able to find us on the map (pretty hard to miss actually.... LOL).

Yesterday the following article was published and it reminds me that here in Canada, we value all of our resources; we are a resource based economy, after all. In this case it is about the military and how it values folk like us in its ranks. Specifically, "the Canadian Forces have issued a new policy detailing how the organization should accommodate transsexual and transvestite troops".

Every organization needs to have policies and procedures that make the most effective use of its labour force and that is exactly what is going on here.


Canada is a pretty harsh place. I know it doesn't seem so, but just leave the major centers of population for a bit and you will find out just what a practical bunch we are; nothing ever gets wasted here for long, especially people. We figure it out eventually. It makes me very proud.

Thanks to Jillian for pointing the way to the article.

10 comments:

  1. I don't know what it is about Canadian people. I don't think I've ever met a Canadian that I didn't really like. Ever.

    Case in point, and now I discover that you are Canadian. :)

    I feel like I should put "eh?" somewhere in my post, but that seems gratuitous. :)

    cheers!

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  2. I read the article in the Post and I felt as good as you did. I think it's the wilderness we live in :-). It makes us come together.

    Kathryn

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  3. You know what is always humorous to me here in the U.S. is that whenever things here seem like they are going to go south, so many of us make a bold proclamation about going North.
    "If that Palin gets elected, I'm moving to Canada." As if Canada wants every dissatisfied American (although Nova Scotia had a brilliant ad campaign to attract immigrants...it made my wife and I think we might want to move there...).

    That being said, when we discuss places we'd like to move, British Columbia is always on our list (being a child of the Pacific, I always feel drawn to it). And if that Palin gets elected...

    Plus y'all have the best national anthem.

    xoxo

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  4. Very true, hon - and we took another step in the right direction last night with the vote on Bill C-389.

    143 votes for & 136 against was a little close for comfort, but it's reassuring to know we might be legally treated as human beings by the end of the Spring! :)

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  5. The Canadians are starting to make the US look pretty dumb and nasty in comparison, when will the legislators come to their senses about just what exactly equality means?

    Caroline xxx

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  6. Caroline is right. Canada is progressing, while we here in the US seem to be marching backwards. You have every reason to be proud!

    Melissa XX

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  7. I saw that article as well, in the Post of all places. I had no idea! Good on the Forces for doing this, although I know that not all members of the Forces are on side with it.

    Lest you non-Canadians get the wrong impression, despite the success (so far) of Bill C-389 and this thing about uniforms, there are also a lot of regressive forces here. Our current federal government is one of them, although I saw that something like five Conservative MPs, including a cabinet minister, voted in favour of the bill. Still, I do find Canada to be a more progressive place than the US, and I'm happy for that. We just can't let Stephen Harper change that.

    I didn't wait for Palin to be elected to migrate north. I actually left while Bill Clinton was president! Holding Canadian citizenship is one of the things I'm proudest of.

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  8. Yeah but do you consider -19C as "a bit of a chilly morning". Yes a magnificent country.

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  9. Now that's a cheering story!

    British forces do this as well, my psychiatrist was telling me he sees Army patients.

    My experience of Canada is mostly of Alberta. Lovely people, beautiful place, but not what you'd call liberal. I can imagine what some of my acquaintances over there might have to say about this.

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  10. The issue with Bill c389 is that the government forced a vote on report which is usually not done when a bill comes out committee without amendments.

    This bill would only have needed a third reading and it would have passed. This is not so encouraging news because it delays the final vote to February. If an election was called it could be an excuse not to bring it to a vote. And we need this bill to pass.

    I have written my MP who voted for as a conservative and thanked him and expressed my appreciation for his stand on this.

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