Tag: Canada

An Open Letter to Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

Dear Prime Minister,

This pandemic has gripped Canada, like the rest of the world, in ways that have crippled and terrified many of us. And leadership is critical in a crisis. In a crisis, leadership can galvanize millions towards a positive outcome, leadership can unite and conquer. And sir, that is what you have done.

I am not a homegrown Canadian. I am of the imported variety, the kind one calls an immigrant, and having lived in multiple places over the course of my life, I have always been proud to be able to identify as a Canadian. However, no moment in time has made me more proud than I am right now.

Prime Minister, I know you have faced flack in the not-too-distant past, in the weeks, days and months, leading up to our Federal Elections last year, but most of us Canadians trusted you. And at this time, it is blatantly obvious that we were right to have done so.

No, not every decision you make will be agreed upon by all. It is the supreme challenge of a leader to receive the support of all his/her people. Still, in the last few days since this pandemic crashed into our airspace and came unwelcome to our doorstep, you have stood strong, you have been unfazed, unfazed by criticisms (and some really stupid questions asked by journalists during your daily address to the nation), unfazed by the doomsday tone of this virus, and unfazed by the collective chaos that is breaking around us.

Under your leadership and direction, Canada has emerged in the last 5 years as a no-longer-silent and firm leader of the free world. I am not old enough to call to mind the wisdom of time and the experience of history, but in my life as a Canadian, you are the only leader of this country who has put us back on the world stage as a force to be reckoned with. It is as a result of your no-nonsense and calm-and-collected leadership that our Canadian Olympics committee had the courage and wisdom to be the first to say our Canadian athletes would not be travelling to Tokyo for this summer’s Olympics. It is under your leadership that Canada has emerged as a major player in economics and trade. You have gone head-to-head with the “leader” of our neighbours to the south. You have stood your ground and stood up for us. No, you are not perfect. You have made mistakes, but you are human, and in these uncertain times, Prime Minister, we as Canadians are blessed and proud that you are our leader.

So, drown out the noise and the shouts of people who do not understand, drown out the bursts of stupidity that have been hurled your way, like you have so wisely done. We see you, we see what you are doing, and we feel stronger as a nation because we are led by you. And sir, we’ve got your back.

With gratitude,

A Proud Canadian

#WhatItTakes – The Entire Olympic Manifesto

Here is the entire #WhatItTakes Olympic Manifesto put together by Sport Chek, Shane Koyczan and Sabrina Benaim. This entire poem exudes so much pride in the spirit of Athleticism, but mostly it embodies the beauty of the Canadian Spirit. I am forever proud to be a Canadian. Eh.

OPENING

We hope every seat is full

We hope you hear them cheer for everyone but you

We hope defeat is in your cards

We hope your hope splinters into shards

that you must handpick from the bleeding wound of your defeat

We hope that every athlete you meet

is better, more determined than you

But you need to be tested the same way wrong needs right

The same way ROAR needs FIGHT

You must fight to be here

You must pay with sacrifice

You must disregard the price of admission

If you want in, it’ll cost you. It’ill cost you broken bones and blood

We hope for a flashflood of fear and uncertainty

We wish this misery upon you because it gives birth to brilliance

There will be a moment in which everything you want becomes a singular goal

A moment of debt when every heartbeat you own can’t pay for every breath you stole

You must pay with the whole of you

Because this is the price and these are the stakes

you must pay for all the hurts and all the aches

you must open your heart like a vault and pay for your pain

because THIS is what it takes.

 

VERSE#1

What will you do when your lungs burn and your body shakes?

When the disaster in your muscles go from tremors to earthquakes?

How will you hold on when every rung you reach for shatters in your grasp and there are more ways to fall than there are to climb?

How will you keep going when the hands on the clock refuse to applaud you until your best time is a broken record that skips over your next heartbeat?

How will you move forward when your feet feel like anchors you must drag across the finish line?

How will you sharpen into an ! the curled up ? of your spine?

What will it take to keep you from doubting yourself THIS time?

 

VERSE#2

You have to ask yourself, is your prime ahead of you? Or behind you?

Will your worst days remind you that your best are still to come?

Is the drum in your chest loud enough to keep your challengers up at night?

Do you have what it takes when the fight goes into extra rounds?

Will the surplus of pounds you lifted be enough to prepare you for the more that is required when what comes next finally arrives?

 Are you committed to the grace it takes to turn your falls into dives to cut through the surface of the water?

Will you have what it takes when there’s no spotter to save you, and no net to catch you?

When your mind asks for more, will your body match you?

VERSE#3

Greatness walks up to you, she asks you two questions :
Can you see yourself in me & are you ready? 

To push beyond your limits while shutting out the noise
To wear well each earned bead of sweat because you’ve worked just as hard
With a different set of rules to triumph before the clock ever starts.
Ask them why they call you anything other than athlete.
You see expectations and break them wearing muscles and tears,
Each one a testament to your strength.
To erase the idea of what you are supposed to be is not what you are here for,
You came to show the world what you are capable of.

There is no box to check for greatness,

They’ll know it when they see it.

 

CLOSING

There is a war you wage on yourself  every time you attempt to do better

The letter of resignation you wrote is a no thank you note you keep using for target practice

THIS is what it takes.

These are the brakes you cut to keep yourself from slowing down, 

To keep yourself from stopping,

Topping your last achievement will never ever take less effort than your maximum.

What takes you from start to finish is more than the muscle around your bones.

May exhaustion turn your arms into the stones you must lif tif ever you claim victory

May gravity always be the foe that prevents you from taking flight 

May there forever be more fight in the other guy 

May you be blessed with the nightmare of constantly asking yourself why you should keep going?

Knowing the boundaries of your reach will teach you to extend past them.

Do not CONDEMN failure

You will come to know it

You will be crestfallen

You will be beat down

You will at times drown in the drought of your determination 

You will stumble

You will make mistakes 

You will learn there was a level beyond the hard way.

THIS is your education

THIS is what it takes!

 

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Canadian Poet, Sabrina Benaim – Look Out World!

So, as promised, here we are with the 3rd verse of the Olympic Manifesto that dropped yesterday, August 18th. This one was a surprise and a pleasant one at that, because this was not written and performed by Shane Koyczan (like I expected), no, true to Canadian form, Sport Chek injected diversity in the form of a very talented and up and coming poet, Sabrina Benaim. I am in awe of how our Canadian-ism has faith in its people and subscribes to the philosophy of everyone deserving a chance to take a stab at greatness. Here, Sabrina Benaim wonderfully delivers.

Greatness walks up to you,
She asks you two questions :
Can you see yourself in me & are you ready? 

To push beyond your limits
while shutting out the noise
to wear well each earned bead of sweat
because you’ve worked just as hard
with a different set of rules
to triumph
before the clock ever starts.
Ask them why they call you anything other than athlete.
You see expectations and break them
wearing muscles and tears,
each one a testament to your strength.
To erase the idea of what you are supposed to be is not what you are here for,
you came to show the world what you are capable of.
There is no box to check for greatness,
They’ll know it when they see it.

-Sabrina Benaim

The last two lines are a stunner. Let them linger.

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Commercials that Make Me Proud to be Canadian

Being Canadian is woven into the fabric of my being. When I leave my country for an adventure abroad, I wear my flag proudly. It is my identity. A BIG part of who I am. When people ask where I am from, I skip not a beat as I say, “Canada”, and then I smile, and then they smile. They know us the world over. They know us for our kindness and our friendliness. They know us because we care, because we are daring and because we are humble.

While we watch the Olympic coverage, and the media is abuzz with patriotic adverts to rally the Canadian Spirit around our athletes in Rio, these two commercials are the ones that make me so very proud to be Canadian.

Tim Hortons’ Commercial: Nothing says “I am Canadian” better than a Cup of Joe from our beloved Tim’s. No matter what your day is like, a drive to Tim’s can turn it around. So, when Tim Hortons came up with #WhyWeBrew, I knew it was an important moment. True to the Canadian Spirit, this commercial believes “Because greatness is not what you have, it’s what you give”. Yes, we are a nation of givers.

 

Air Canada Commercial: This one is an exceptionally clever marketing campaign to galvanize Canadians to travel, especially with the summer coming to a close. However, it is more than just a smart marketing venture, it is a snapshot of what it means to be Canadian; a look at our adventurous side.

“You’ll love your home, but its border will not be able to hold you…Maybe to prove yourself, maybe because you’re needed, maybe to show off your big bad superpower brain. That’ll be you flying the flag, that when you leave, they’ll remember that smart, helpful, confident, tough, CANADIAN.”

 

Long Live the True North Strong and Free.

 

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An Open Letter to the Canadian Women’s Soccer Team in Rio, Brazil.

Dear Canadian Women’s Soccer Team,

Today we watched with an ache in our hearts as we were defeated by Germany. It felt like 4 years ago at the London Olympics, when we came so very close, only to have the glory STOLEN from us. That was a devastating loss when the win SHOULD have been ours. It was a hard pill to swallow then, and remains a bitter memory even 4 years later. Still, you came back from that loss, and you were victorious for the most well-deserved Bronze ever.

We were hoping we could take back what we lost then, but that was not to be this time. And no, we are not disappointed. We are proud. Because, like then, today, you fought. You fought with your hearts, and you fought with your dignity intact. And you were brave. Oh so brave.

Captain Sinclair, as the captain of our team, you have always upheld the integrity of your players and the integrity of your country as a whole. You have battled on with courage, with determination and with compassion, even when battling with all those three was a superhuman feat. You have been the rock that your team leaned on when their sinew fell apart. You have been the boat that buoyed them to the shore. You have remained a model captain. A true star. The stuff of champions.

Coach John Herdman, you held our women together and galvanized them to come back for a Bronze that was their consolation prize 4 years ago. You brought them back this year for another fight on the world stage. We know they are in good hands with you.

Players on the team, we watched today as a nation, as your tears fell after you fought so hard. We cried with you, our tears mixing in with yours. But, we remain unwavering in our belief that you are a GREAT team. Not only in your talent and perseverance, but in your heart, where the real star lies.

And today, as the minutes collapsed into seconds and we as a nation watched hopes for that Gold Medal slip out of our hands, we remembered one thing, we remembered that, “With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free!”. So, with your ENTIRE country backing you, with the weight of our collective hopes pinned onto your very capable shoulders, we bid you the best as you take on the game for the Bronze Medal. And whether you come out with a back-to-back podium finish, or not, know this much, WE ARE PROUD OF YOU, because no matter how many times you get beaten down, you ALWAYS find a way to rise up and fight again. And in the words of Shane Koyczan, we know you have “what it takes”.

All the best, ladies. Your country stands behind you.

 

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