Is this your idea of a Canadian joke sir? or: Happy Canada Day!

In celebration of this amazing country I call home on a day for celebration (especially since it is pouring out) here is my

"Top ten things that make me well Canadian, eh!"

1. Canadian independent music - Some of my favourite artists ever are those who have quietly risen to modest fame in their communities simply because of great talent and love. Artists like Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Joel Plaskett, Julie Doiron, Glenn Gould, The Tragically Hip and many many others have influenced thousands of up and coming artists while maintaining their roots and giving back to their communities. Don't get me wrong, Canada has its share of rude, wanna be rock stars but I find with Canadian artists they are so appreciative of their art and their fans. Some of my new favorite Canadian music: Dan Mangan, The New Pornographers, The Coast, Endangered Ape, Hey Ocean, Chad Vangaleen, The Pack AD, Shotgun Jimmie, Azeda Booth...

2. The CBC - Growing up the CBC was a mainstay in my home and the homes of many of my friends. CBC Radio one and two was something I remember always being on and Stuart Mclean's Vinyl Cafe and CBC Radio One's Here's to You are programs I still listen too. CBC Radio three is my own personal mainstay and there are so many amazing programmers and producers I couldn't even begin to name them all.

3. Canadian Lit - Richler, Ferguson, Atwood, Lewis, Klein, Findley, and Cohen are only a few of my favourite Canadian authors. Maybe it is that I relate to the grand landscapes they paint, or their interpretations of historical events that makes Canadian writing so profound and engrossing but the vast amount of talent this country houses is astonishing. Although quieter and maybe more simple, Canadian literature is a voice of a people who are constantly questioning their own identity. Maybe this is why Canadian lit. is so important to me. It is how I hear our country's voice.

4. Roy Macgregor - If you want a bio, here it is. I single him out from the many other amazing writers and journalists simply because of his own apparent love of everything Canadian. What can I say, I believe patriotism is infectious. His book "Canadians: A portrait of a Country and its People" is a portrayal worthy of at least one good read, whether you're Canadian or not.

5. Degrassi Junior High - Best. Show. Ever. This featured every single after school special imaginable and made it cool. Teenage pregnancy, abortion rights, death, zits (or The Zit Remedy, am I right?!) , first love and sex. Who needed parental guidance with Degrassi around? (Just kidding mom and dad...)

6. Canadian Heritage Moments - Yep, those 1min long "A part of your heritage" commercials burned Canadian history into our young, impressionable minds. Thank God. Social 10 was pretty much a succession of those brief childhood memories. Here's a couple of my favourites are the Winnie the Poo, our invention of Basketball, The Underground Railroad, Sam Steele

7. The Canadian Landscape - There is nothing more breathtaking than driving through a summer evening when the prairies are lit up with the setting sun or the Rockies on a cold winter morning when the snow has settled from the night before, or Northern Ontario in the fall with its huge trees. Our identity is so often associated with our surroundings. The Maple Leaf, cold winter days, the rough west, eastern lakes and all three of the oceans our country touches. It is amazing the diversity of land this country holds and every time I get the chance to visit somewhere new I am always amazed at what it holds. A friend of mine and University of Lethbridge Alum, Kelly Kennedy, is biking across Canada to raise PSE awareness and I can only imagine what he is getting to see everyday. (Also, you should check out their blog).

8. Canadian Cities - Who ever settled this country understood where to build up that homestead. In a country with a climate as variable as ours is and the blockades of poor transportation, little infrastructure and little access to building materials in many parts its impressive that settlements still sprung up from coast to coast in the most spectacular places. Huge rivers running through, oasis' in the middle of prairies, hidden gems in the valleys of B.C. and the forests of Ontario. They really are amazing. Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax, even Toronto all have a distinct voice and a very distinct people who call it home.

9. Canadian towns - Small Canadian towns are my favourite thing in the whole world. CTV's Corner Gas fully captures the idiosyncrasies of small Canadian towns and the inherent modesty and politeness within. Canadian small towns really do capture and intensify what we consider traditional Canadian values. Politeness, hard work, early store closing, tight neighbourhoods, Tim Horton line ups, and large family's. My own family is from a small town in Northern Ontario and every time I visit I cannot help but marvel at the way this town works. The only coffee shop's in town are the Tim's or the Robin's Donut (note the THE), Safeway is where you go to get the 'good' groceries, they have one radio station, every one you meet is either a family friend or just family and they have the single greatest small town bar to ever exist (that's right, a shout out to the PI...If you have been there you know, if not, you don't even understand). It is also the town that when my G.Grandfather passed away friends, relatives and neighbours brought enough food and phoned so many times there was only a constant busy single. Wakes are a celebration. Home made wine and great food from family recipes older than most of my cousins. This is what small town means to me. That is also what Canada means to me.

10. Canadian pride - This ones a little hard to describe but I really find that Canadians are really very proud to be Canadian. Canadians stand up and shout they are Canadian (save maybe Conrad Black, who came crawling back anyways). We wear our flag on our back pack's, we recognize our pop stars (even if we cringe every time we hear them..), we get upset over a couple million dollars of a federal budget of a few hundred billion dollars, we listen to CBC and we take off our hats and stand at attention at the first note of Oh, Canada. Maybe I'm just a patriotic sap but nothing gets me more that seeing a sea of people all standing at attention while our national anthem rises up around me. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.