A Nation Awakened

This is us..

Being tossed like castoff cargo in the churn of history has given us Canadians a hard-earned pride—one carved from resilience, not rhetoric. We had a provincial election last night. Some of us saw our hopes dim, others their visions realized, but we did what we always do: moved forward, heads high, backs straight. We congratulated the victor, honoured the defeated, and carried on with the quiet dignity that is our signature.

I came here in 1969, fleeing a country set ablaze by a war that tore at its own soul. Canada opened its arms—not just to me, but to a generation disillusioned by the cost of power, by the cheapness of life in the hands of those who waged war from behind polished desks. Thou shall not take the lives of innocents—that vow remains as steadfast in me today as the day I made it.

So today, I commend those who stood their ground—Justin Trudeau, Charlie Angus, Doug Ford—who refused to let the venom of a counterfeit patriotism seep into our soil. We know that kind of grift, that brand of arrogance that sees people as bargaining chips, lives as expendable currency in a backroom deal. We have no appetite for it here.

I have spoken freely for fifty years—through song, through the click of a camera shutter, through words that cut, or comfort as needed. There have been moments I stood alone, but never silent. I’ve been called blunt. So be it. There is nothing more liberating than saying what must be said and standing firm when injustice snarls at your heels. We are stronger when we talk to one another when we reach beyond ourselves and see the world as something shared, not owned.

I speak to everyone. To the child grinning wide-eyed from across the way. To the man shuffling along, looking for nothing more than a place to lay his head. To the teenager staring into some distant void, unsure of the road ahead. To the dog tethered to a post, waiting on kindness. To the woman whose knees don’t bend the way they used to. To the stranger whose burdens are too heavy to carry alone. Because this is our world, together—a place not to be hoarded but held, with care.

Canada is awake. It is kind. It is real. We are not some cheap imitations of another nation's mistakes. We are a family—quick-witted, sharp-eyed, and courteous enough to cut you with a smile. Like the great oak, we may bend in the storm, but we will never break.