July 15, 2017
Paul Brydges
LO President

Paul BrydgesI am so proud to be Canadian. This pride was instilled in me during every family dinner I attended growing up with my great uncle Bert.

Bert was proud to be Canadian for 103 years and gave the most rousing speeches about why he was so incredibly proud.

Bert was too young to enlist in the First World War, and lost his older brother in 1917 close to Vimy, France.

Bert was too old to enlist in the Second World War, and saw his older brother convert his foundry to build munitions for the war effort here at home in Guelph, Ont.

We, as a family, are so thankful for what all our relatives gave to these great world disruptions, and that Great Uncle Bert could give us the perspective to understand‎ after having lived with, and through, both of these global turmoils.

I took this for granted as a teen and into my mid-20’s until I lived and worked in the United States‎.

Upon returning home from the U.S. to continue practicing landscape architecture, I realized how fortunate we are in Canada to have health care and a relatively solid educational system (which I believe we can still vastly improved). The beauty of our country (that is for the most part undeveloped and untouched) gives me the opportunity to be inspired every day en route to client meetings from Tobermory, Ont. to Peggy’s Cove, N.S.

The Canadian flag on our company uniform is there to let everyone know we are proud to be part of a country that takes pride in its environmental stewardship. It is also there for me personally, to pay silent tribute to great uncle Bert and great uncle Norm, who gave all in the First World War in France. And my grampa, Roy Moon, who landed at Normandy on D-Day and lived to silently bear the heartache of what he saw there that day and throughout the rest of the war.

How can we not as one great people stand up and cheer? We continue to be a country envied throughout the world for our peace, tranquility and natural beauty.

As we unite on July 1, let us all stand up and cheer and pay tribute to those who gave us the freedom to live as we choose, and remember why we should all be so proud to simply be Canadian.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!
Paul Brydges may be reached at paulbrydges.la@sympatico.ca.