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It has been brought to my attention, via the angry, rude guestbook entries and e-mail I occasionally receive, that I should really voice my opinion on some things. First of all, my intentions when starting this site a year ago were to promote Canada and share my pride with everyone who stops at this page. I felt there was something I needed to do to contribute to the feeling of unity that seemed to be lacking among Canadians at the time, especially due to issues with Quebec. Never, I repeat, never did I have the idea that I would create a page where I would BASH other countries. I would CELEBRATE my country of birth and everything good it has to offer the rest of the world. I am not either, saying that my country is free of violence or racism, or free of problems such as unemployment or debt. We all know that this is definitely not true. But the choice I made was to focus on all the positive things about my nation and its people, and I have every right to do this. I feel it is part of my responsibility to my country. Some Americans who have written me angrily are accusing me of bashing the USA or bragging Canada is better than the US because we have fewer problems. I have made every effort to keep all of my pages free from any messages like this. NOWHERE on any of my pages do I mention ANYTHING derogatory about the USA!!! I challenge you to find something. YOU WON'T. I have, however, posted some of the opinions sent to me on the "you said it" page, and I cannot stress enough that THESE ARE NOT MY OWN. Some excerpts I have put up there just to make people think, because they made me think. "Why is this person so angry at the US?" or "I disagree because..." or "but..." I would hope that they provoked, inspired, or helped you to examine your own views about this country and what it stands for. If nothing else, then they will have served their purpose. Furthermore, even if I DID make my page one big USA-bashing fiesta, I live in a free country and can do whatever I please whether you agree with it or not. There is already a popular "Anti-Canada" page, which I have refused requests to link to. I look at it this way: If I was an American, and had a page on my American pride, would I enjoy looking at (and encourage others to visit) a page which b.s's about my country? I refuse to stoop as low as those of you who leave ignorant, uninformed, profane, or all-round stupid remarks in my guestbook or inbox. When someone says to another person, "You stink!" and they reply with "No, you stink!", I think that leaves both people stinky. I also have no respect for (and chuckle quite a bit at) those who rant and rave at me, but don't have the cojones to leave their email address or name. It takes guts to stand up for what you believe in, and I'm proud to have my patriotism on display for the whole www to see. I have met rude Canadians, so they do exist. I have met wonderful Americans, so they so exist. I have seen clean US streets, and dirty Canadian ones. I am not fooling myself or anyone who reads my pages into thinking otherwise. Simply not true. But I am not, either, fooling myself into thinking all countries and their peoples in the world are equal. They are NOT. From my own personal viewpoint, experience, knowledge, and travel, I have decided for myself that there is nowhere else on this planet that I would rather live than Canada. There are many people who agree with me, just check out the voting booth. Which, by the way, at one point had recorded over 300 votes, but then was reset for some stupid unknown reason. Canada was consistently chosen 87% of the time as the best place in the world to live. You can accuse me of bashing all you want, I am used to it by now with the amount of mail I get. If you think I am being unjust somehow simply because I am expressing my idea that Canada is the best place in the world, I question you HOW. What this country has done for me and countless others is beyond anything that any HTML could encapsulate. But if I have captured even a small part of what it means to be Canadian, then my original intentions for creating this page will have been surpassed. I refuse to apologize for my pride in my country.
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