Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger / File

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Others look upon us more kindly than we do ourselves

Jun 30, 2021 | 4:21 AM

NEVER HAVE SO MANY been so confused about what to do tomorrow.

Canada Day has been cancelled or “postponed” in many communities, for a variety of reasons. Kamloops is one city that has cancelled the annual celebrations due to COVID.

A lot of other places have cancelled them out of respect for the trauma caused to indigenous people by the discoveries of children’s remains at former Indian Residential Schools.

And now, there’s the heat. Merritt, for example, has scrubbed the fireworks display from tomorrow’s events out of concern for fire safety.

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But there’s some good news to be happy about. July 1 marks Step 3 in B.C.’s reopening plan. That means we can relax our COVID vigilance, at least a little.

And how about those casinos and nightclubs opening for business again?

But we should all take special cheer from Canada’s ranking as this year’s Best Country in which to live. That’s right, not Number Three and not Number Two. We are simply the best.

Criteria used by the judging panel of international business leaders, marketing experts and media are especially interesting. In addition to cultural, economic, technical and political factors, social purpose was added this year.

Canada scored high on commitment to social justice and human rights. Seventy-six per cent of those who responded within the study believed racial and ethnic diversity is a strength.

Admittedly, the tallies for Best Country came out just before the news events that are driving so much debate right now, but here’s another number to consider — a Leger poll this week found that while 77 per cent of Canadians think Canada Day should go ahead as planned, less than half think Canada is one of the best countries to live in.

All of this suggests that others look upon us more kindly than we look upon ourselves, and that’s of no small importance.

Which leaves just one more thing to say: Happy Canada Day, and stay hydrated.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.