140 reasons why I'm proud to be Canadian

In honor of this being the 140th birthday of my home country of Canada I'm going to compile a list of 140 reasons why I'm glad to have been born and raised in Canada.

1. we get to vote democratically
2. we have freedom of speech
3. Canada is a peace-loving country
4. George Bush doesn't run Canada
5. Saddam Hussein doesn't run Canada
6. Osama Bin Laden doesn't run Canada
7. our cities have actual trees, in fact many actual trees
8. good Alberta beef
9. breath-taking views from the tops of our mountains, especially Grouse and Whistler
10. mild winters on the west coast.
11. hockey
12. great beaches to lounge at in the summer
13. great flatlands in the Prairie provinces
14. Canada is a multi-cultural country.
15. many jobs to apply for.
16. Great health care system
17. free health care
18. free education (up to grade twelve)
19. 2010 olmypics
20. Wayne Gretzky
21. Terry Fox
22. the War Amps (for providing me with a paid-for artificial arm)
23. innovative people
24. reasonable gas prices
25. great sushi
26. Molson Canadian beer
27. CBC
28. Curling
29. Lacrosse
30. dedicated bike paths
31. great golf courses
32. decent wages (in comparison to the US and many of the third world countries)
33. no major famine
34. we're not gun-happy
35. Alexander Graham Bell (for inventing the telephone)
36. Canadian film industry (for many great movies)
37. Bryan Adams (for great music, he can be forgiven for forgetting the anthem)
38. Paul Revere (for revolting)
39. Dr. James Naismith (sp?) (for inventing basketball)
40. Steve Nash (for putting Canada on the map in the NBA)
41. Great Canadian Authors (including my grandfather Michael Poole)
42. Geoffery Bland (for his work in pioneering fuel cell research)
43. we invented the Smart Car
44. W.A.C. Bennett (for approving funding for the building of all those roads, bridges)
45. Roberta Bondar (for being the first Canadian in space)
46. Ed Broadband (for campaigning human rights around the world)
47. John Candy (for being so funny)
48. Mike Weir (for winning the Masters and being a great Canadian)
49. Trevor Linden (for all his community service as a Canuck)
50. Emily Carr (for all the wonderful things she painted)
51. Jim Carrey (see John Candy)
52. Marc Garneau (for all his time spent in outer space)
53. The Natives (for allowing us to inhabit their land)
54. Rick Hansen (for all his work in spinal cord research, rehab and wheelchair sports)
55. John Humphery (for being the primary author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
56. We belong to NATO
57. We belong to the UN.
58. Simon Jackson (for campaigning to save the spirit bear
59. Silken Laumann (for inspiring Canadians with her effort at the 1992 Olympics after sufferring a serious leg injury 2 months prior, she won a bronze that year)
60. Julia Levy (for her work with anti-cancer drugs)
61. Nellie McClung (for writing best-selling novels that advanced the feminist cause)
62. Sir John A McDonald (for being the father of Canada and our first ever prime minister)
63. Kim Campbell (for being the first femal prime minister in Canada)
64. Pat and Edith McGeer (for being pioneers into Alzheimer's disease)
65. Lewis MacKenzie (for leading the UN-led peace mission into war-torn Bosnia in the early ninties)
66. we saved the US's butt in WWII (although the US likes to think the opposite)
67. Cliff Chadderton (for helping the War Veterans who come back and/or came back from war missing limbs)
68. Agnes MacPhail (for becoming the first women MP in Canada)
69. Maquinna (for greeting the first white men to land on Vancouver Island)
70. Len Marchand (for being the first native MP)
71. Gordie Howe (for a great hockey career)
72. Farley Mowat (for promoting Canada in his novels)
73. Canadian Dancer (for being the first Canadian-born thoroughbred to win the Kentucky Derby)
74. Jim Pattison (for his generosity to our charities and providing many people with jobs)
75. Micheal Smith (for his groundbreaking work in reprogramming segments of DNA)
77. David Suzuki (for his great work with the environment)
78. Ken Taylor (for helping US Embassy workers escape Iran by posing as Canadians)
79. Brian Tobin (for saving the Turbot fishery from the Spaniards)
80. we have great fishing rivers
81. BC salmon
82. Atlantic lobster
83. the mighty Fraser River
84. we have loads of energy
85. we're the third largest country, geographically
86. James Cook (for discovering Canada)
87. Queen Elizabeth I (for being our original queen)
88. we're one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a high per capita income
89. we have low unemployment
90. we have a high standard of living 91
91. we're one of the few developed nations that's a net exporter of energy
92. the beaver (for being our official mascot)
93. we have the world's second-largest reserve of oil
94. we're the worldest largest producer of zinc and uranium
95. the Canadian dollar is getting even to the US dollar
96. we don't start wars
97. we have 34 ethnic groups with at least 100,000 citizens living in Canada
98. Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world
99. Canadians are generally friendly, helpful people
100. the maple leaf (for being the symbol of our flag)
101. We have a cool looking flag
102. We have a great national anthem
103. Canada has the produced more NHLer's than any other country
104. Sidney Crosby (for breakiing Wayne Gretzky's record for fastest player to 200 points)
105. Larry Walker (for being the first Canadian to win the MVP award in the Major Leagues of baseball)
106. Whistler (for being world famous for great ski runs and the primary reason why the Olympics are coming to BC)
107. we have a great suspension bridge (Capilaino Suspension Bridge)
108. Canada has great shopping districts (Robson street e.g.)
109. we protect the rights of the minority
110. we protect the rights of women
111. we hate bullying
112. we support homosexuals
113. Henry VII (for discovering either Newfoundland or Nova Scotia)
114. we have five "Great Lakes"
115. we have a mighty Waterfall in Niagara Falls
116. we don't get as many severe weather storms as the US
117. we get actual seasons
118. we generally don't cheat in professional sports
119. We have a high average age
120. We have a very low incidence of hiv/aids
121. we are very diverse religiously
122. Almost everyone in Canada (99%) can read and write
123. we have a great educational system
124. Canada does not have the death penalty
125. Canada believes in giving people second chances
126. most people live above the poverty line (86%)
127. Bob Lenarduzzi (for putting Canada on the map in soccer)
128. we are a unified country
129. we have great youth sports programs
130. Canada has healthier people than the US
131. we have many great parks
132. we have hosted the Olympics three times (including the one upcoming in 2010)
133. we belong to Amnesty International
134. Canada has the world's 10th freest economy
135. Canada is home to some great universities (UBC, SFU., U of T, etc.)
136. girl guide cookies
137. we own a third of all the fresh water in the world
138. we have the largest bay in the world (Hudson's Bay)
139. we have the longest street in the world (Yonge Street, which starts in Toronto, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and winds it's way north, then west to the end of the Manitoba-Ontario-Minnesota border)
140. The only flying saucer launch pad in the world is located in St. Paul, Alberta