Well, one out of two ain’t bad.

This marks my third Canada Day as a permanent resident of Canada, and the end of the second year of my three-year period before applying for citizenship. Two years of living here haven’t changed my perceptions of Canada too much. I still prefer the way Canada does business (politically) in the world, I still prefer living in a country where everyone pays for everyone’s health care, and I still don’t think paying what amounts to US$5.75/gallon for gas is too much.

I’m not exactly sure how living in Vancouver compares to living in Canada, since it’s quite different from my previous experience here, and seems quite different from most other places in Canada according to the other transplants to whom I’ve spoken. I’ve actually started to wonder if this is Canada’s “cultural mosaic” writ small: Canada doesn’t exist as a country, but as a collection of municipalities which share some similarities and have many striking differences. Spider Robinson (another transplanted American now living in the Vancouver area) once described Canada as an amazing place, that was seemingly held together despite language differences and mutually exclusive regional interests by nothing more than extreme politeness and a hatred of its national airline’s coffee (although I’ve had it pointed out to me that most Canadians wouldn’t narrow it down to the coffee). The longer I live here, the more accurate that seems to me.

It’s not all roses living here, but again, I don’t know how much of that is Canada, and how much is living in Canada’s La-La Land. There is a certain amount of gullible credulousness in Vancouver that really rubs me the wrong way. Most of these I attribute directly to a lack of critical thought (what our friends Kayla and Alan described as “the other national deficit”):

• Yes, I want to help pay for my neighbour’s medical care, but no, alternative medicine (whatever that means) should not qualify as “medical care”.
• No, a 650 square foot condo sold for $385,000 cannot “appreciate forever”, not even if the Olympics are coming and yes, I can back that up.

However, at least this kind of disagreement doesn’t get someone tarred as un-Canadian. Too bad the same can’t be said south of here.

Happy Canada Day to everyone, everywhere. I wish you were all here.

M:  I’m done packing.

D: Great, what do you got?

M: Two light sabres, soccer game, scoobydo puzzle….

D: How ’bout some clothes?

M: Nah, Gramma will have all that for me.