For those of us who are, even all the way over here, I think everyone is feeling the fact of our nationality in a new and passionate light. Mostly it’s a positive and powerful sense of unity and shared purpose, a realization that our country is anything but “broken.” Yet there is a definite touch of dread to it. For the first time since the 1866 Fenian Raids forced four colonies to stop dithering and get Confederation done, we are under the threat of direct attack: annexation by a powerful neighbor, just as Hitler seized Austria in 1938.

So far from home, what are we to do with this sense of shared purpose? One answer emerged from my recent conversation with Mario Girard, Quebec’s new man in Japan (p.21). 

Phrase of the moment across Canada right now is “diversify our trading partners.” Where is our best hope of doing that? Right here. Thanks to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, Japan’s doors are opening to us at a time when Canada’s relations with both China and India have cooled somewhat. That means Japan may be our best bet for diversifying – which puts the CCCJ on the front line.

Never has our friendship with Japan been so important and so worth celebrating.

Finally… speaking of Quebec, this issue features two remarkable men from the twin cities in a region seldom noticed beyond La Belle Province: the Saguenay, 200 kilometers northeast of Quebec City. Our cover story features Alain Bouchard, a guy from Chicoutimi who turned one corner store in Laval into a global convenience store empire, even though he started with almost no English. The other is the aforementioned Monsieur Girard from neighboring Jonquière, who first made a name for himself as an IT entrepreneur, and whose English is excellent. And just so you know: in 2002, Chicoutimi and Jonquière merged with several smaller communities to form the city of Saguenay, population about 150,000. It is Canada’s leading aluminum producer.

PS: feedback welcome at speechwriter.harris@gmail.com