Mdrinka said:
I am for our mission in Afghanistan. Wow this thread really turned out like I expected it to be.
You telescoped your expectations, and perhaps foreshadowed the replies by the manner in which you posed your original question.
An empty profile, combined with a baldly stated question (no preamble, no discussion, no reason given for asking) which is guaranteed to raise high emotions ALWAYS gives me a "hincky feeling", and I usually suspect the poster has an agenda. Your statement above proves my point - you expected a certain reaction, posted your question is such a manner as to guarantee you receive the expected reaction, then pretended to be an innocent posing an innocuous question in a search for knowledge. What hogwash.
However - as promised (although you haven't upheld YOUR end of the bargain yet - we still haven't heard why YOU are proud of Canada, despite others attempts to assist you), I'll tell you why I'm proud of Canada, and I'll do you a favour and leave any reference to military actions past or present out of it.
I've been to quite a few places in the world - "western" democracies, communist nations, Islamic states, and dictatorships. What has always struck me is Canada's basic decency. And I mean institutional decency - not just the common decency shown by most individual Canadians. We have built a society which, despite it's faults, at it's core CARES about people - all people. We bend over backward to ensure that all are treated fairly, and that all are given an equal chance to better themselves. We sometimes fall short of the mark, and as individuals we don't always agree with how it's done - but as a nation we genuinely give a damn about our fellow man, despite his ethnic, cultural, or religious background. And believe me - that is a quality which is in short supply around the world, and it's one worth being proud of.
I am not a sociologist, and cannot posit how this happy state of affairs came about, but I strongly suspect it was passed on to us by past generations with a strong grounding in parliamentary democracy, a determined work ethic, and a strong sense of ethics (mostly based on Christian theology). What we do with it is up to us - and I feel that most Canadians retain and are proud of these qualities, despite my despair with the justice system, the shenanigans of our elected officials, the beastliness of SOME of our youth, and the "victim" attitude copped by SOME of our citizens. I truly believe that the average Canadian is a decent, honest, hard working, ethical individual who will give you any assistance you may need, despite your background. And THAT makes me proud.
I'll leave off here - remember that this is only ONE reason I am proud of Canada - there are many more.
Now please leave off acting innocent and state your agenda.
Roy
Edit: Typos