The holiday season provides everyone the opportunity to take stock of the many blessings they have in their lives along with some of the areas that are in need of a little work. The blessing that we all share, and that many of us don’t always appreciate as much as we should, is the blessing of living in living in the greatest country in the world.

When you look around at the many problems in the world in places like Hong Kong where pro-democracy demonstrations have been met with brutality, or Venezuela which has spiraled into social and economic chaos, our own problems pale in comparison.

(For the most part) Canada is devoid of the same immigration issues that are tearing the social fabric apart in many European countries and even in our closest neighbour across our southern border. I’m not saying that racism doesn’t exist in this country, it does, it’s just not as rampant as it is elsewhere.

Again (for the most part) Canada is an understanding country. We welcome immigrants with open arms because we understand and are empathetic to their plight. Most of us came to the realization a long time ago that our diversity makes us stronger.

We are also a great country because of our generosity and the tendency we share to want to help others, whether they live across the street or on the other side of the world.

And we’re a great country because we understand the importance of taking care of our environment, unlike a certain President across the border. We could always do more, but we are already doing a lot more that many other G8 countries.

And, finally, we are a great country because we never take ourselves too seriously and we’re not afraid to make fun of ourselves. We have been blessed with some great comedians, actors, athletes and singers over the years, who have provided us with no end of excitement and entertainment and make us proud to be Canadian. People like Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Bianca Andreescu, Brooke Henderson and Ivanie Blondin are just the latest in a long list of great Canadian athletes.

We are blessed because we have some of the best doctors, surgeons and medical researchers in the world who strive to keep us healthy resulting in our having one of the lowest mortality rates in the world.

And finally we are blessed with geographically with majestic mountain ranges, wide open plains, plenty of rivers and lakes, ocean coastlines and four definite seasons (although I wish our winters were a lot shorter).

So let us be thankful this holiday season for the blessings we have been given including the greatest blessing of all –our families. And in the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us everyone.”

– Fred Sherwin, editor