Hello Richmondites! The 147th Canada Day is upon us, and this year it falls on a Tuesday, so it will either be a nice respite from the workweek or a great wrap-up to an extra-long long weekend for those taking a sneaky Monday off work.
The 2014 Steveston Salmon Festival is the place to be in Richmond and, for me, having been raised in the fishing village since early childhood, this year marks a special one after a three-year hiatus.
To celebrate Canada Day, I travelled throughout Richmond to ask residents, like you, what it means to be Canadian, what defines us as a nation and, perhaps, what we can improve upon moving forward.
The remarkable thing about Richmond is its diversity; I spoke to people from all walks of life and the results were no surprise - Canada is a fantastic country and when you consider our position in this world, especially living in Metro Vancouver, it's no doubt we are a fortunate bunch.
This is a summary of what I heard from everyone: Our freedoms are unparalleled - we generally accept others no matter of race, sexuality, gender or religious affiliation. We are a prosperous country with many resources. We are thinkers and embrace scientific truths; we love our environment, what with our abundant, clean water and air and lush forests. And we strive to be better.
We need to maintain our environment, the crown jewel of who we are. We need to protect wildlife and maintain our healthy way of living. We need to improve upon our already great public health care system. We love our children and will defend them to any length. We need to continue on our prosperous path with a strong, robust economy that is open to business and trade; and we must challenge government to be more forthcoming.
The great thing about Richmond is that, the more people you meet the more countries you're likely to learn about.
On this little adventure I met natives of Russia, India, Sweden, Jamaica, Sri Lanka and, of course, China. And that's only from speaking to about 25 people from some of the most popular corners and hangouts in the city.
On these pages is only a sample of the people I spoke to. You can read more entries at richmond-news.com with our interactive map. I will be adding to the map on Canada Day and you're free to email me your picture and story to [email protected] and tweet me @WestcoastWood.
