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Take time to celebrate and appreciate Canada

Canada will be turning 149 years old on Friday, July 1, and fireworks will burst with communities celebrating this great occasion with parades, barbecues, live concerts and various activities.

Canada will be turning 149 years old on Friday, July 1, and fireworks will burst with communities celebrating this great occasion with parades, barbecues, live concerts and various activities.
Canada truly has a lot to celebrate and to be proud of, acknowledged as one of the best places to live in the world.
This fact is made all the stronger as one observes the turmoil, violence and a total disregard for human life or basic human rights that is all too prevalent in the world today.
The violence that has pervaded Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, and continues to, brings images of bombings, destroyed buildings and mayhem that scares and mystifies most residents of peaceful countries. These images used to be quite foreign to those of us who do not experience war and terrorism up close — but then 9/11 woke us up to a new era of terrorism, and in recent months, there have been shootings and bombings in Orlando and Paris, along with many other incidents in places that have never seen such violence before.
Even staid old Ottawa was the scene of a horrific shooting by a would-be terrorist, who killed a soldier guarding Canada’s national war monument before running into the very seat of power of the federal government, the Parliament Buildings, where he was eventually shot and killed.
Even aside from the violence brought to Canadian soil, this is still a beautiful and largely peaceful country with freedoms and opportunities that people in some countries can only dream about having. This is why many Syrian refugees have come here (or, for the ones Weyburn is supposed to be getting, trying to get here, no thanks to our Liberal government), to come to a land free of bombs and war and death.
There are many new immigrants from many other countries here as well, even here in Weyburn as well as throughout Canada, which is only appropriate as Canada has been built up by immigrants. These new residents of our country recognize the freedom and opportunities that are here that many lifelong Canadians just take for granted as being the norm, as being the way things are here.
Canada in many ways is like an oasis in a world rife with violence and war, and is a place where people can worship without fear of reprisal, pursue one’s dreams and aspirations without restrictions, and be free to travel without fear of having wartime violence causing death and destruction. When you stand up to sing O Canada on July 1, be proud and happy to live in the “True North, strong and free.” — Greg Nikkel