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| Maple leaf forever London, ON May 2026 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
On the one hand, it’s a pretty wonderful country. In just about every global ranking, we’re somewhere near the top of the heap. Everyone seems to really like us. Even Americans stitch the maple leaf onto their backpacks when they travel.
On the other hand, all countries have warts, and Canada is no exception. We have blind spots around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Not everyone feels equally welcome or supported. Hatred runs rampant here while various levels of government choose to look the other way. Our leaders are great at virtue signalling, but little else.
It hit me this week as I finished up the recycling on the front lawn. We had finished a box of Manischewitz matza and I was arranging everything inside the blue bin. When the flattened box ended up on top of the cardboard pile, I looked at it for a second before deliberately burying it out of sight.
See, I’m a Jew, and in Canada in 2026, I still feel compelled to suppress obvious signs of my background - even in my blue box - for fear of being targeted before the recycling truck shows up the next morning.
Because we are led by a prime minister and others who speak out of both sides of their mouths on issues of hatred for fear of losing the support of the majority who think nothing of hating folks who aren’t exactly like them.
Because my community has to hire security to protect us from haters who routinely shoot real bullets into our synagogues, schools, and community centres.
Because Jews, Jewish businesses, and Jewish institutions are being not-so-randomly attacked while leaders like Toronto’s mayor, Olivia Chow, wantonly ignore the rising tide and not so tacitly add fuel to it.
Because not all of us feel safe enough to even identify as being different in the first place. So we quietly hide who we are and hunker down under the radar.
That’s Canada at 159, and it all feels so very un-Canadian.
We can do so much better, yet we seemingly choose not to.
Why is that?
#ldnont #canada #canadaday
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