This is my Canada

Population change by province or territory

Our latest census data came out, for 2016. One of my kids works for Statistics Canada! We like numbers in this family.
It shows our population as 35,151,728, and we have the highest growth amongst the G7 countries.

• People tend to live near the Canadian/US border, with 66% within 100km of the border. 

• Ontario and Quebec are the most populated provinces, with 61.5% of our population.

Ontario  13.4 million people
Quebec    8 million

Then there is the good and the bad.

The Good

Calgary, Alberta, elected the first Muslim mayor for a large city, in the western world.  Alberta's population has increased by 11.6% from 2011 to 2016.

Naheed Kurban Nenshi (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician who is the 36th mayor of Calgary, Alberta. He was elected in the 2010 municipal election with 39% of the vote, and is the first Muslim mayor of a large North American city. He was re-elected in 2013.^[2]

[There have been other Muslim mayors: In May 1991, Bilal became mayor of Kountze, Texas (pop. 2,056), a notable achievement because Bilal is black and Kountze is 70% white. But what really made his rise remarkable is the fact that he's Muslim - the first Muslim mayor in the nation.]

Naheed Nenshi Says Trump's Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Is 'Not Funny'

Nenshi slammed the businessman's call to forbid Muslims from entering the U.S., saying the billionaire's comments have a "real impact" on real people.
"We've been hearing a lot of divisive language in a lot of corners of this country and in other places in the last few months, and you know, it's easy to dismiss stuff like this as a joke. It's not funny anymore," the mayor told CBC News on Tuesday.

Mayor Nenshi is known for his acerbic twitter response to hostile constituents.

9 Tweets That Prove Calgary's Mayor Nenshi Is Winning At Twitter

He also wants every Canadian to do three things, in honour of our 150th anniversary. There is much controversy, since prior to Canada becoming Canada, it was a rich place where First Nations inhabited much of it. This is something I can get behind, however.

do three things

Calgary police are teaching immigrants about their human rights. The class was being led by an immigrant who is a Calgary police officer.

C.I.E.S.

@YYCCIES
Calgary Immigrant Educational Society is a non-profit devoted to assisting immigrants and disadvantaged Canadians improve their language and employment skills.

The Genesis Centre sounds amazing! Weddings, community celebrations, gym, indoor soccer, library, all geared towards new immigrants. It's been open since 1988. They are having a hockey night, and teaching new Canadians to skate.

Not only a female cop, but one hanging out with kids,
teaching them and helping them have some fun.

The Bad

Quebec politicians are running on racist platforms, firing up citizens in racist, xenophobic fears. 

And across the border...

Well, some cannot get across the border. We have Canadian citizens who are being denied entry to the US based on their religion. He was born and raised in Canada, not an immigrant or a refugee. He has no ties to the 7 predominantly Muslim countries, but is of Moroccan descent and Muslim.

Canadian woman denied entry to U.S. after border agents find Muslim prayers on her phone: https://t.co/mkSkaBBSBW pic.twitter.com/bEFzznlX9k

— As It Happens (@cbcasithappens) February 8, 2017

Canadian denied entry to U.S. 

after being questioned on mosque connections

You just can't write this stuff.
So-called president Trump and his staff are being called out on his lies.
Happily, Jake Tapper took Trump's spokeswoman to task. (Tapper's mother is Canadian!) Trump continues to lie about the US homicide rate, calling for panic. He also called Trump out for not mentioning anything about our muslim Canadians murdered in Quebec. Trump continually tweets about 'bad people.' 

Reevely: Donald Trump's America could learn lessons from Ottawa's Larry O'Brien years

Institutions, customs and rules develop for a reason. An outsider’s willingness to smash idols can be valuable but it’s dangerous if it’s not married to competence, an understanding of what you’re doing and why and what will probably happen after. Plenty of people don’t have that, no matter how good a game they talk. If you elect such a person, you can’t assume that everything will be OK.

The niqab debate defies the Canadian Constitution #BarbaricCulturalPractices

#BarbaricCulturalPractices
Choices: thong or no thong

"We want to encourage women to live great lives here."

           –Mayor Nenshi

Jason Kenny CPC Candidate vs. Calgary Mayor Nenshi:

‘This is disgusting and it is time for us to say stop it’: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi blasts Tories’ niqab ban
“This is unbelievably dangerous stuff. I spoke with a group of mayors and councillors from all over Alberta last week … I stood up and said this is disgusting and it is time for us to say stop it — it’s time for us to say this is enough,” Nenshi said.

Mayor Nenshi
"For Canada to work we have to speak against the voices of intolerance." 

Jason Kenney - Defense Minister

#BarbaricCulturalPractices 

“If anything’s dangerous, it would be legitimizing a medieval tribal custom that treats women as property rather than people,” Kenney, currently running for re-election in Calgary, said in an interview Thursday.

My students preferred their hijabs. We had no kids who wore the full niqab. When they would have basketball practice, with their all-girls teams, they would remove them and relax. They preferred being modest, rather than showing bellies and legs, as other girls did.

Mayor Nenshi's points

1. Of course the polls say that Canadians want the niqab banned, since the Conservatives have turned this issue to political gain.
2. I don't worry about what the polls say when it comes to basic personal rights. It's not about majority rule.
3. It is a basic human dignity. For Canada to work, it means we have to speak against the voices of intolerance and the voices of small-mindedness, wherever we find them. And all Canadians should do that.

'Barbaric cultural practices" a veil?

Canadians should speak out for the kind of Canada they want. Ban it for a 30 second ceremony, or ban it all the time, what is the deal? This violates the Canadian Constitution: freedom to wear a hijab or a turban.

Identity is really important to many of us.

Two Conservative candidates have touted a tipline for the RCMP [Conservatives pledge funds, tip line to combat 'barbaric ... to enforce the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act] if you suspect barbaric cultural behaviour. What does this mean? How judgemental can they be? We have a tipline for domestic violence: 911.

Yet more interference in cultures different than Canada's and wasteful funds: If elected on Oct. 19, the Conservatives would also commit $12 million over four years to help international organizations working abroad to prevent forced marriages of girls and young women, particularly in conflict zones, they said.

#BarbaricCulturalPractices = a veil?

 Let's spend $12 million in Canada to support women's shelters here in Canada, the money that was cut by the Harper government in order to balance their budget. Let's stop offending those whose cultures prefer arranged marriages.

Stephen Harper's War On Women - NOW Toronto Magazine ...

Not that this will surprise those who have tracked this government's record on women's equality since Harper first came to power in 2006. Among its many hits on women was the shutdown of 12 out of 16 Status of Women offices and the entire Court Challenges program, which helped women (as well as members of the LGBT community and those facing physical and mental challenges) fight for their constitutional rights. At the time, Harper referred to those as "left-wing fringe groups."

#BarbaricCulturalPractices
on a beach