Reflexions of a First-Generation Canadian

I just came to the realization recently that I am a first-generation Canadian. I know -- I should have figured this out a long time ago. Somehow, though, it never really struck me as being the case. I just always saw myself as Canadian.

This could be because I do not seem first-generation on the surface. I have an anglo last name thanks to an artisan ancestor who chose to become an economic migrant from England to the Holy Roman Emprie several centuries ago. My family, my immediate family, appeared to be your average hive of WASPs. The truth could not be different.

My mother was born in central Europe and came to this country as a child. Her father had a very strict rule that she and her sister were to speak only English, since they were Canadian now. The net result was that she spoke English with a Canadian accent by the time I was born.

My father was actually second-generation Canadian, but you would not have known it. Unlike my mother's father, his family remained firmly rooted in some of the old ways. His mother was Canadian-born but spoke English as a second language. As a matter of fact, my dad did not actually speak English when he started kindergarten.

I have always felt proud of being a Canadian. I feel in touch with this country far more than I could ever feel for some distant and foreign "homeland". Even when I lived in the United States, which closely resembles Canada in a lot of ways, I felt like a stranger in a strange land -- and I was only 13 at the time.

I am lucky in many ways. Having spend substantial lengths of time in three very different provinces -- Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia -- I really see myself as a Canadian, rather than as a provincial or regional Canadian. And that, I suppose, is the way it should be.

A Chinook in June

Most people associate chinooks with the winter, but news reports have been full of stories about the impending purchase of Chinook helicopters.

Today, the federal government announced it would be spending over $4 billion to purchase 16 heavy-lift helicopters. (The actual costs work out to about $2 billion for the 16 helicopters and $2.7 billion for 20 years of support.)

The ironic thing is that Canada used to fly the Chinook. 447 Squadron used to fly the big helicopter out of Edmonton from 1979 until they were retired in 1991 because the Canadian Forces could not afford to operate them. They were sold to one of our NATO allied (the Netherlands, I think) and Canada has been without big choppers ever since.

I am glad to see that the politicians in Ottawa are willing to invest in equipment for our armed forces. Not only with the Chinooks be of value in war zones like Afghanistan -- they will also be useful in cases of natural disasters like floods or blizzards or hurricanes.

The Reluctant Singer

I know the bad rap that public speaking has. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, people are more afraid of delivering a eulogy than they are of being the subject of the eulogy.

Personally, I don't feel the same. After all, I do public speaking for a living. I have, however, discovered a fate worse than public speaking -- public singing.

I have no idea how I got roped into it, but this past Sunday I found myself front and centre singing in front of my church. I do not have a great voice by any stretch of the imagination, but luckily it was church and not Canadian Idol. Having said that, I am still amazed by how nervous I was by the prospect of singing in front of the congregation.

I don't know why, but there is something intensely personal about singing. Maybe it is the fact that I am aware of my limitations. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that more people sing poorly than speak poorly. For all I know, it I am unconsciously comparing myself to the singers whose voices I like and whose CDs I buy. All I know for certain, is that I have not been that nervous in years.

Pride, In the Name of Love?

Last week was "Pride Week" in Toronto. This celebration of "Gay Pride" is one of the cities biggest celebrations and, like previous years, went without a hitch. When you think about that, this says a lot about how things have chnaged in this country in the past 50 years.

There is something remarkable about the fact that hundreds of thousands of people got together to celebrate, support, or just plain gawk at their gay family, friends, and neighbours. While the city saw gun violence, none of it was directed towards gays. If there were gay-bashing incidents, I didn't hear about them in the news.

I have to admit, I don't quite see the Pride Parade as a "family friendly" event like some people do. In my opinion, exposed buttocks and leather chaps are not suitable viewing for young children. Having said that, I don't see anything wrong with acknowledging we live in a diverse society.

I know many people in the United States who find this aspect of Canadian culture very difficult to understand. My minister, who is a recent arrival from the United Kingdom, also comments about the degree to which Canadians "live in the grey areas". This does not bother me -- what some might see as a curse, I see as a blessing. I am happy to live in a country that allows its citizens to live without fear of being harmed for being themselves.

Nano, Nano

The National Institute for Nanotechnology has opened in Edmonton this week, providing Canada with state-of-the-art facilities in what is a fascinating field.

Nanotechnology deals with measurements that are beyond my imagination -- 1/100,000 of the width of a hair -- and involves the manipulation of material at the molecular and atomic level. I have a hard enough time visualizing measurements like 1/100 of a second or 1/1,000 of an inch. It boggles the mind to consider even smaller measurements.

The applications are potentially world-changing. Imagine conducting surgery at a molecular level! Or what about increasing the capabilities and reducing the size of electronic components? How about creating light-weight bullet-proof clothing with the ability to change colours like a chameleon? It is all theoretically possible with nanotechnology.

I am looking forward to see how the new National Institute influences scientific discoveries.

Summertime, and the Living is Hectic

When I was a child, summer seemed to stretch forever.

The season was an endless round of baseball games, fishing expeditions to the local creek, lawn mowing, and outdoor games. Every July saw us pack in the Oldsmobile, hook up the tent trailer, and meander around Saskatchewan on the way to my grandmother's house. Days were long, nights were short, and life was good.

I hesitate to label myself as a nerd, but by the end of the summer, I was ready to return to school.

Yesterday was the first day of summer, but it feels different than the summers of my youth. My calendar is already booked for the first half of July and I am anxiously trying to find time for appointments in August. The days seem shorter, not longer, and I am wistful for a life where returning to school is something to look forward to.

Long Time, No Blog

It is hard to believe that it has been over a week since my last posting.

In part, this is because I have been busy at work, both creating training materials and failitating sessions. Any free time I had was spent on the day-to-day activities that everyone has to face.

In part, this was because I was reading a fascinating book called Safari by a man named Bartle Bull. Safari traces the history of big game hunts in Africa from the turn of the 19th Century to the present. It profiles some of the great hunters like Frederick Courtney Selous (whom they named the Selous Scouts after) and J.A. Hunter.

I greatly enjoyed Safari. In fact, rather than racing through the book, I savoured it -- reading, and re-reading, one chapter a night so as to draw out the experience. Unlike many of the books I read, I truly wished I could travel back in time to see things the way the main characters saw them.

Good News (for a Change)

I am encouraged (at least a little bit) by some of the news items pertaining to wildlife that have hit the headlines in recent weeks. In at least a few cases, there seems to be some hope for the survival of species. Amongst the species that have been rediscovered are two species of frogs and a California species of millipedes. In these cases, the species had been presumed extinct, at least regionally.

Even the Florida manatee has been removed off of the endangered list, although this may not be such a good thing given the fact that boaters still cause serious injuries in the canals and shallows. Hopefully, this will not be a problem in the future.

Silent B. de Griot

I have been too busy to post anything for the past few days because I have been playing with video editing programs.

I was supposed to be attending a senior management conference next week with my company, but we have been hiring so many people the last month that I have to cover off one of the training groups in the classroom. I can't say that I am upset about that, since I love training and generally find conferences boring, but it has meant that I needed to create a "virtual griot" to take my place.

At first, I tried filming it. It was not bad for a first time, but I still need to learn how to mix the sound so that it doesn't sound like I am talking from inside of an industrial-sized brewery vat. I also need to work on the lighting, since my bedroom "studio" was not really meant for filming training videos.

In the end, I decided to go for the option of using animated, narrated PowerPoint presentations using wave files. It is not quite as flashy as I would have liked, but I needed to work out a couple of kinks in my storyboarding process any how.

Let the Games Begin!

I am not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination. I have no interest in hockey. I love the romance of baseball rather than the reality of Major Leauge Baseball. I don't get the fascination with Nascar and Formula 1 racing. I would rather play basketball than view it. I sample sporting events the way stereotypical jocks sample cooking shows. Having said that, I am really excited about two big sporting events.

First, last night saw the first pre-season games in the Canadian Football League. Unlike a lot of people, I have no interest in NFL or US collegiate football. I do, however, find something enjoyable about the CFL game. My biggest problem is that I don't know who to root for. My traditional team has been Saskatchewan, but I don't feel the connection with them anymore. I feel even less connection with the Lions, even though I spent half my life in BC, so I guess I will commit to the local boys.

The second event is the start of the FIFA World Cup. I never played soccer, even as a youngster, but I gained an appreciation for the game during my trips to the UK. I enjoyed watching games during the Euro 2002 competition. Since Canada did not qualify, I also have the luxury of being able to choose a team to root for from the entire competition. I know I won't go so far as to buy a jersey or put a flag on my car, but I really am looking forward to the games beginning.

I Don't Have the Energy

We are living in a time of incredible changes.

If you were to ask what is the biggest single issue facing Canada, some people would say "security". Our troops are engaged in combatting the Taliban while they work with the Afghan government to rebuild that country. Our ports and borders are porous. Our military is facing "rust out" of equipment and our national police force is undermanned.

Other people would say that the biggest single issue is health care. Costs for medical procedures and pharmaceuticals are spiralling out of control. There are shortages of doctors and nurses in some areas. Diabetes and obesity is on the rise, even amongst children.

If you ask me, energy is the big issue. Without cost-effective and secure energy sources, Canada cannot compete economically on the world stage. With affordable and reliable energy, Canadians cannot continue to enjoy anything approaching our current lifestyle.