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“A Canadian. Is a Canadian. Is a Canadian.” With all the political commentary, articles, blog posts and tweets about Monday night, truer words could not have been spoken by Justin Trudeau, our next prime minister. I woke up Tuesday morning with my faith in the future our beautiful nation restored, a smile on my face and my red and white pride in my home and native land set aright.

My father immigrated to this beautiful nation in the early 1970s with his life savings, wife, three-month-old daughter and a couple of suitcases. It was his first time this side of the Atlantic. He landed on Christmas Day, found an apartment and started a new life for his family. He did as most of our families and ancestors did. He chose a new home, built a new dream and worked hard to achieve it. It is because of his, and the sacrifices of countless others, that our nation is as diverse as it is beautiful, a mosaic of cultures intertwined in our love and pride for our collective nation.