Who are Canadians?

by Robert F. Edwards

Today I would like to share some events and people that I’ve met as true Canadians. I have had the good fortune of living in the Collingwood area for the last 50 years.

Living in a multicultural city in greater Vancouver, I’ve often wondered how I could live anywhere else and here’s why.

Last month I went to the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station. When the train stopped, I found the car was full – in other words, standing room only. With no hesitation, I got on board and braced myself on one of the supports available for standing passengers.

This is the first one of whom I think a Canadian is and why we are the way we are. A woman in her mid-50s of South Asian origin and her daughter were sitting in two seats. The woman asked to her daughter to get up and “give that man your seat.”

Without hesitation, the girl got up and motioned for me to take her seat. I thanked the young lady and said, “no, that’s okay.”

Her mother looked directly at me and said, “you’ve earned the seat, she hasn’t. Please sit down.”

That’s the way Canadians think and how they respect their elders.

The next one takes place on my way to the dentist. As I approached the front door of the building, a man, I think in his mid-20s, opened the door to go out. He left the door open for me but realized that

I wouldn’t make it in time for his kind offer. Instead, he whirled around with the speed of an athlete and held the door open for me.

That’s the way Canadians think of helping another person. The third instance happened at the bank. As I was standing in line with only three tellers available, the wait seemed longer than normal. One teller had a chair for the client to sit down on while the other two were standing room only.

Finally, the man in his mid-30s in front of me was next with the one teller who had the chair. Without hesitation, the man turned to me and said, “go ahead, it is yours.” I said, “no, you’ve been waiting just as long as I have, it’s your turn,” but he said, “I’m going to wait until another one comes available, that one’s yours.”

That’s the way Canadians show who we are and where we are in this world.

These people I’ve never met before my life, and they’ve come from all walks of life as well as different parts of the world. However, they have one common thing that nobody can ever take away from them, which is their Canadian-ness. When you think like these people you are Canadian no matter where you are. I am so very grateful to be one of the Canadians.

The mission of this non-profit publication is to provide the residents, businesses and organizations of Renfrew/Collingwood with a medium for community communication.

Paul Reid: staff writer and layout coordinator

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Julie Cheng: editorial coordinator

Contributors: Alger Ji-Liang, Julia Di Schiavi, Karen La, Karen Vanon, Masa Kateb, Paul Reid, Robert F. Edwards, Sophia Han, Zhaozhong Zheng

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