It’s Canada Day. I moved to Canada in the 70s to keep bees. It was a good move for me. Yesterday, I noticed that the conservative news magazine, US News and World Report, has placed Canada as number one (for the fourth year in a row) out of 80 countries they studied for Quality of Life. They calculated nine measures – safety, health care, job availability, environment, political stability, income equality, affordability, quality public education, family friendly – to determine national ranking.  Canada is far from perfect. But apparently it is closer than any other country, in terms of overall quality of life.

I’m also pleased that my home city, Calgary, has regularly placed first in the world among all cities for ‘environment’ – a quality you don’t think about much unless you travel and see the world’s other options. Environment is measured by the Mercer Group as clean air and water, public parks and greenspaces, and so on.  I’ll probably stay.

Finally, a treat, the late Stompin’ Tom Connors with his rousing Canada Day song: