Alysson Storey, business professional
If I had to boil it down to one word, it would be: service.
Being Canadian means taking care of others. It means tens of thousands of young Canadians serving their country in the First World War, showing bravery on the fields of Vimy and Passchendaele and turning a young country into a well-respected one, almost overnight.
It is service in the Second World War and the incredible sacrifices made; and peacekeeping in the decades to follow.
It is the service we see in organizations like Rotary International, Kiwanis and Zonta.
It is the sense of community that we feel, and the outpouring of support to a family who has lost their home to a fire or a young child who needs life-saving surgery.
We see service for the greater good, in creating a society that takes care of its most vulnerable citizens.
Being Canadian means taking care of one another.
Being Canadian is something I was fortunate to be born into, and something I am grateful for every day. My own personal and Canadian form of service is through Rotary, but just about every Canadian I know serves their community or their country in some way.
Is there room for improvement? Always. But seeing how far we have gotten is definitely something to celebrate.
