Grateful to be Canadian

I asked my dad why he settled in Toronto.  Of all the cities he's worked and lived in, with New York City, Washington City, Lima, Hong Kong and Fushan being among them, why did he choose Toronto? Dad said, “Toronto is the best city in the world.  It is peaceful with relatively little crime.”

“What do you think of the people here?” I asked.

“They're okay.  Everyone is educated and tolerant.”  He pauses for a moment, “The government does so much to help people.   I remember the day I became a Canadian citizen.  I was 47.  I was so happy.  It meant I no longer had to be afraid of being thrown out of the country.  I could finally marry someone and start a family.   I use to be a homeless kid running around on the streets.  Now I have two sons, one engineer and one police officer.   Together, they bought me a house to live in.  I am so happy.  Canada is a great place.”

“How does it compare to New York?”

“New York today is okay, but Toronto is still better.  In New York, some places can be very rich and some places can be very poor.  Back when I was there in the 1970s, things were very difficult.  It was a different life.  For example, you never really knew who your friends were.  You'd think someone was a friend, then one day he'd ask you, 'Have you died yet?'  This was a common saying in Hong Kong and it meant, 'What triad do you belong to?'  You never knew who belonged to which triad.  You had to be careful with who you called a friend.  It seemed one-third of the people were connected to triads.”

“I don't hear much of that in our Chinatown.”

“Of course.  Our Chinatown is safe.  Things are much better here.  You'll never see the life your mom and I grew up in.”

“What do you think of racism in Canada?”

“Everyone's racist.  But Toronto is very good.  They won't round us up and kill us the way the Japanese did.   The government won't mass execute people who believe the 'wrong' religion or have the 'wrong' political views.  Relative to the world, Canada is a great place.  Overall, it has a better foundation than any country I can think of.”

These are the kinds of words I often hear from my parents.  My parents are grateful to be Canadian. They appreciate how many centuries, how many revolutions, how many political activists it takes to create a modern, liberal and progressive country like Canada.  They don't forget how a national crisis can quickly take away their lifestyle, their rights and their families. It doesn't take much for a country to start conscripting men to wars or putting visible minorities in concentration camps.

My parents tell me how fortunate I am to live in such a racially tolerant society.  My mom tells me I'll never see a Chinese mob butcher Muslim children in a school.  My dad tells me the Japanese will never exterminate me like a diseased farm animal.

Canada has certainly come a long way compared to the rest of the world.  I am proud of what Canada has achieved and I hope one day, we can share our achievements with the world.