What does it mean to be patriotic?

I never considered myself patriotic before.

Sure, I’m proud of my country and love living here. I cheer for our athletes in the Olympics. Any national sporting event I will don the red and white and cheer my heart out for Canada to be victorious, or at least not embarrass themselves. I even prefer the CFL over the NFL and am unabashedly a fan of the Hamilton Ticats, despite their recent troubles.

But beyond that, I never really stopped to think about what it means to be Canadian.

Until recently that is.

What Changed?

Well it’s simple really. The re-election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States of America. It wasn’t so much his re-election that did, than what he did after he was elected. What was once a friend and ally, quickly turned to something else. Something much more sinister. Something that made me stand up and think ‘I always want to be Canadian”.

All the talk of Canada becoming the 51st state was brushed off as ‘joking’ by Americans that I know. I asked them how they would feel if another country was talking about swallowing them up, along with other countries, just because it was the whim of the guy in charge? The answer disturbed me: “I’d like to see them try”.

And just that like that, the arrogance of some of the population of the United States was on full display. It reminded me of why I always cheered against the US in any international competition. It didn’t matter the country. The sport didn’t matter. If the US was in it, I was cheering against them.

It also reminded me of the time the Homer Simpson wore a shirt with Uncle Sam on it that said “Just try and stop us”.

And here we are. Someone who I think is not entirely stable, although he once called himself a stable genius, making overtures against several other countries to become part of the US. With the undertone of these comments being “Just try and stop us”.

Am I Patriot?

I still don’t know.

I am trying to support Canadian when possible. Even more local when it’s available. I have no current trips planned to the US. I look at our flag and do feel a sense of pride in it and despite our issues as a country, I am happy to live in and be a citizen of Canada. The true north strong and free.

Is there more I can be doing? Well for starters I am going to vote in the upcoming federal election. And be informed as I can be. But after that, I don’t really know what it means to be a patriotic Canadian.

What I do know, and I feel this deep down in my heart, there is no way I will be come a citizen of the United States of America.