12 Oct A thought for Thanksgiving

How did safety and security come to be central issues in this federal election campaign?

If you don’t feel safe in Canada, where on earth could you possibly feel secure? Canadians may just be the safest people in the history of our planet.

Yet Prime Minister Harper implores us live in fear: Fear of the future, fear of each other, fear of new Canadians whose stories and backgrounds are different from our own.

This view isn’t simply inaccurate, it’s unpatriotic. It belittles Canada.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I pause to give thanks for living in a country where my family, friends, and neighbours are safe, secure, prosperous, and confident enough to welcome newcomers fleeing homelands beset by tribulations we can scarcely imagine.