Celebrating Canada Day always feels so good! It's so uplifting to see our beautiful red-and-white maple leaf flag being flown everywhere, and people of all ages turning out in patriotic T-shirts. Standing up to sing "O Canada!" just leaves me bursting with pride at being a Canadian.

So why do we agonize so much over who we are? I can't think of any other nation that has such an identify crisis. Do Danes and Aussies, Brits and Japanese, South Africans and Indians spend time pondering their national identify? I don't think so. I know that our American neighbours never need to ask the question "Who are we?" They know they're the "land of the free and the home of the brave", and they let everyone know it. I've had quite a bit of close contact with Brazilian cousins, and they definitely know who they are. They find it a little amusing that we don't have the same certainty.

Canada is a country that was built on the hard work of people mainly from France and the British Isles. Then they were joined by Loyalists from across the border, people of Dutch, German and British descent who didn't want to live under the new republican government there. Later, the Ukrainians and Polish joined in developing this country, and since World War Two, there has been a flood from Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Central America. Each group has added something valuable, something special to this country.

So far, we've been able to live together and work together. Thankfully, people from all of those other countries have a sense of humour that has blended into a unique manner off poking fun at ourselves and at each other. Perhaps that's one of the great things about Canadians - we don't take ourselves too seriously. Nor do we think we are the most important nation on earth.

We can see our short-comings and make jokes about them.

What it all comes down to is that we all share half (the bigger half, at that) of a wonderful continent that provides for us abundantly. We don't have to apologize for being Canadians! We've got the best of everything, especially people.

I hope I never again hear of a survey or a conference or a study or anything else asking the question "What does it mean to be a Canadian?" It means that we're very fortunate people.