Canada IS An Awesome Country. We Are Lucky to Be Here.

It's our collective birthday. Three cheers for a country that is, while not perfect, pretty damn amazing. Of course there is the gorgeous geography, the healthy economy, the quality of life (for some, that's where the imperfection starts to creep in) and all the "normal" stuff about which most developed countries tend to brag.

What I'm most proud of is our diversity. Canada is not a "melting pot", she is a rainbow. Any given city can be home to hundreds of ethnicities and cultures, and it makes for a vibrant, intelligent, exciting landscape.

What other country can celebrate the fact that 40 Members of Parliament were born outside of Canada?

Diane Ablonczy, United States
Omar Alghabra, Saudi Arabia
Vivian Barbot, Haiti
Susan Barnes, Malta
Maurizio Bevilacqua, Italy
John Cannis, Greece
Raymond Chan, China
Chris Charlton, Germany
Olivia Chow, Hong Kong
Tony Clement, England
Libby Davies, England
Sukh Dhaliwal, India
Ujjal Dosanjh, India
Steven Fletcher, Brazil
Joe Fontana, Italy
Hedy Fry, Trinidad
Nina Grewal, Japan
Albina Guarnieri, Italy
Rahim Jaffer, Uganda
Jim Karygiannis, Greece
Wajid Khan, Pakistan
Maka Kotto, Cameroon
Gurbax Malhi, India
Inky Mark, China
Keith Martin, England
Tony Martin, Ireland
Maria Minna, Italy
Maria Mourani, Ivory Coast
Deepak Obhrai, Tanzania
Daniel Petit, Belgium
Yasmin Ratansi, Tanzania
Pablo Rodriguez, Argentina
Michael Savage, Northern Ireland
Mario Silva, Portugal
Peter Stoffer, Netherlands
Andrew Telegdi, Hungary
Lui Temelkovski, Macedonia
Myron Thompson, United States
Vic Toews, Paraguay
Joe Volpe, Italy
John Williams, Scotland

And our talented, intelligent, free-spirited and feminist Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Haitian by birth, is another example of why this country is becoming stronger, more relevent on the international stage, respected by other countries. Everyone has a chance to do amazing things in this country, and amazing things are being done every day.

I'm proud to be a Canadian, not just today, but especially today.

Happy Birthday Canada.