Even countries as multi-cultural as Canada have an identity. ‘My Canada’s’ identity is founded on certain cultural beliefs and values that serve as the cornerstone of who we are as people. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrines these values we have as people. How do we stay true to My Canada? How do we not let fears, racism, intolerance lead us away from the ‘My Canada’ we have worked so hard to build?

Whether we live together in confidence and cohesion; with more faith and pride in ourselves and less self-doubt and hesitation; strong in the conviction that the destiny of Canada is to unite, not divide; sharing in cooperation, not in separation or in conflict; respecting our past and welcoming our future.
– Lester Pearson

My Canada is:

1. a nation founded on accepting diversity, valuing democracy and a strong desire that all Canadians are entitled to the freedoms afforded to us through our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
2. a country with a vision for a society based on human rights.
3. one where we defend and protect the human rights of all Canadians through the creation of policies that strive towards an equal and just society.
4. one that recognizes the right of all global citizens to be afforded the opportunity of peace.
5. one that will stand-up though negotiation and dialogue in helping create and maintain world peace.
6. a country of peacekeepers and defenders of human rights.
7. a place where we remember our veterans, our ancestors who fought hard to create a country where we recognize the human right of equality for everyone.

I am a proud Canadian, but also a Canadian who is concerned some of our identity, our culture is being lost to a Prime Minister who does not put the safety and dignity of all Canadians, of all people into his policies. A Prime Minister whose actions jeopardize our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Harper’s Canada:

1. creates an increasingly large gap between the wealthiest Canadians and the rest.
2. creates Tax Policies that even his former finance minister believed favoured only the wealthiest of Canadians and was unfair.
3. has watched and done nothing as student and household debt has increased
4. ignores issues surrounding the human rights of women and children who are victimized and find themselves marginalized through poverty.
5. continues to ignore the issues of tax fairness by not holding companies accountable to the creation of full-time jobs for Canadians in exchange for decreased tax rates and continues to ignore the hording of capital in off-shore accounts.
6. ignores the long-term effects of environmental issues related to our water, air and our future
7. ignores or silences the voices of scientists and economists
8. is responsible for the crumbling human and physical infrastructure of our cities
9. ignores the right of all Canadians to an education, health and fair and equal work.
10. ignores the government’s responsibility for protecting the enshrined human rights of all Canadians.

In Harper’s Canada fairness is no longer the reality. In Harper’s Canada we are at risk of losing all we have worked so hard to achieve as a nation. We are at-risk of losing our identity.

On Election Day, I will remember all those brave Canadians who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so much to create ‘My Canada’. I will remember their courage, their sacrifice in order to ensure I live in a country where every individual is respected, valued and guaranteed the rights enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I will vote as I remember that sometimes the greatest threat to ‘My Canada’ does not come from the outside, but rather our greatest threat to our rights enshrined in our ‘Charter’ can be found right here at home.

I will not stand by and do nothing as the values of ‘My Canada’ is destroyed. My vote will do something because my vote is to save ‘My Canada’.