Canada, of course, can be improved. But where would you rather live?

A LOT GOING FOR US THAT WE CAN’T REALLY CLAIM CREDIT FOR. — JOHN ROBSON

This Canada Day I felt blessed, able to ride out a nasty heat wave at the cottage thanks to living in a country with over half the freshwater lakes in the world. Even our stunning natural endowments might seem a small thing compared, say, to our peaceful society and our prosperity. And I feel lucky for those reasons too. But the key thing is the feeling of luck, because appreciation can help us avoid both smugness and resentment.

Perhaps I have managed to do some useful things along the way. Certainly as a public policy commentator I’ve tried to, though intermittently mindful of Charlie Chan’s aphorism that every man must wear out at least one pair of fools’ shoes. But like the vast majority of Canadians, my enjoyment of the benefits of Canadian life are primarily the result of good fortune rather than achievement, of grace not works.

Why was I born here instead of some war-torn, impoverished, drought-riddled imitation of hell on Earth? Why was I born after the Second World War instead of just in time to fight in the First World War and leave my name, age 19, on one of those crosses in Flanders? Why did my ancestors manage to come here instead of remaining where they were or picking some place far worse?

Now it might be objected that those ancestors, like other immigrants to Canada, may claim at least some credit for the wit and energy that brought them here. And so they may. But there is also an element of good fortune in having those talents, and living long enough to use them. And a far greater element of good fortune in there being a Canada for them to come to.

Years ago sharp-tongued Texas Democrat Ann Richards said George Bush Sr. was born on third base and thought he’d hit a triple. Well, I was born in Toronto and raised in part on Georgian Bay and am increasingly aware that it was a lot like being born six feet from home plate (on the third base line, obviously). And I’m not alone here.

I’m not saying I have no problems or you don’t. I’m just saying we sure have a lot going for us that we can’t really claim credit for. And if we could remember this point it might raise the intellectual and moral tone of our public debate.

The volume level is fine. Complain loudly and proudly about things that are wrong, and argue about what’s wrong and how to fix it, because another extraordinary blessing of Canadian life is freedom from fear in public debate, of mob violence or the secret police bringing an ominous literalness to the expression “in the dead of night.”

Indeed, the more we do understand how lucky we are in our history, environment, culture and strategic situation, the more indignant we should be at ideas and habits we think endanger them. Imagine inheriting this vast good fortune and squandering it.

So definitely speak out about what you think is wrong, or is going wrong. But do it as a trustee, in a spirit of reverence not resentment. Because if we brought a little more humility to the public arena it would crowd out some of the smugness, vitriolic tone and the widespread satisfaction with ideas that are blunt enough to crush adversaries instead of being sharp enough to cut through nonsense.

There are, I realize, people who will reject this whole line of argument on the grounds that Canada actually stinks. A surprising number of our fellows including many who enjoy exceptional privilege appear to view our history as a bleak tale of bigotry and oppression that must be repudiated and where possible erased. Indeed if this Canada Day was better than the last, weather aside, it is at least partly because the Canada 150 celebrations were apparently organized by people who don’t think we’re lucky to be Canadian.

I find this attitude to be contaminated by wilful resentment. Of course there are things wrong in our past, and present. And again, I’m not asking people to overlook them in the fabled spirit of Canadian politeness. Far from it. I want robust debate. I want problems identified and fixed. I want everything to be on the table including that we should be nice to one another and we enjoy remarkable good fortune. But I’m here to say that we should and we do. Even our propensity to expose and correct error is a marvellous inheritance. Where would you rather live?

Supposedly it will be 38 degrees today and feel considerably hotter. So I will again be counting my blessings in the shade not on the dock. But with the dock among those blessings I’ll be feeling very lucky indeed.

Wood can’t melt, can it?

THERE ARE THINGS WRONG IN OUR PAST, AND PRESENT.