Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian fellows!

How I wish I had a version of Canadian tea to drink today, but I’ll have to stick with the good ole English cuppa for now.

As this is also Indigenous People’s Day in the States, take a moment just to reflect on why this day is important. Columbus never discovered anything- he came, he conquered, and he left destruction in his wake. The concept of Columbus Day is ridiculous, and the colonialist viewpoint-if you still hold that, then you’re archaic. Recently, 30th of September it was Orange Shirt Day in Canada. For those of you who don’t know, Orange Shirt Day is for the education of cultural genocide in Canada through the Indian residential school system. Because of these colonising efforts, 70% of all Canadian indigenous languages have been lost or endangered. If you would like to know more: https://www.orangeshirtday.org.

So as much as I love my Motherland, I know that I am privileged to be able to call it that safely, without the possibility of erasure. But for Thanksgiving, I give thanks for the natural splendour that Northern Ontario has to offer. I give thanks that I was able to get an education that promoted environmental protection, and the things I can do to help. From Algonquin to Magnetawan, I give thanks that there are places unhindered by the capitalistic world we’ve grown accustomed to.

And so, on that point, I’d like to give a quote from the camp hymn of my favourite place on earth, Glen Bernard Camp:

Like the dancing waves of sunlight, make me glad and free.

Like the straightness of the pine trees, let me upright be.

Like the birds that soar while singing, give my heart a song.

May the music of Thanksgiving, echo clear and strong.

Camp Hymn, glen bernard camp