Oh, Canada

Here's to fresh air & freedom!

Flag in a field. 50 minutes east of Parliament Hill.

It’s Canada Day. Canadian flags are everywhere. Small ones, large ones. Adorning homes and gardens.

In recent years, some of us who live beyond the urban centres have noticed an increase in full time flags. Red and white ones, and sometimes black ones bearing the name of the Prime Minister. A year-round Canadian flag at the end of a driveway on a rural concession road may mean something beyond the obvious. These days it’s a reasonable bet the landowner participated in - or in some way supported - the Freedom Convoy.

It’s surprising how often you see a bobtail (just the tractor part of the semi) parked at a rural address. Many farmers drive trucks for pay during the winter. Truckers and farmers. Lives entwined.

Convoy truckers received immense support from Canadians farmers. Across the country, acres and acres of fields were snowplowed so that there were places to park and rest en route. Yesterday I saw photos of a gathering in the aftermath of Ottawa. Live fiddle music and dancing in an outbuilding, while a huge sign on a grain elevator read: ‘Freedom Convoy 2022.” A different farmer told me he brewed between 300 and 600 cups of coffee a day for the truckers. For weeks.

The countryside is inhabited by pragmatic, independent, self-sufficient folk. Who know how to do vital things like raise food, drive heavy machinery, and build stuff. Folks who just want to be left alone.

Here’s to the Canada that thrives in the background. Here’s to fresh air and freedom.