2010 Soap Box Archives

Northern Neighbors

We've just returned from a concert date in Canada, our neighbor to the North, and make no mistake about it, they are good neighbors indeed, and some of the best friends our nation has.

But never get the idea that Canada is the Northernmost extension of the United States, they are a nation with their own heritage, their own strong identity and their own national interests, many of which coincide with ours, but when they don't, they simply disagree and have the class to say so without trying sabotage our efforts unlike so many other nations who have policy disagreements with our country.

Canada is a huge country stretching from Atlantic to Pacific, encompassing a continent in the process and I have had the honor of traveling across the beautiful breadth of it from the Maritimes to the Western provinces.

Canada is a vast diversity of terrain and people with two official languages, many colorful tribes of Indians all melted together to make up the culture.
Canadians are friendly and hospitable, a hardy breed who live through long winters where the temperature in the Northern reaches stay well below zero for much of the winter.

They produce their own oil out of their own soil and have enough left over to export to the U.S.

Canada has its own breathtaking range of the Rocky Mountains, prairies and plains and millions of square miles of pristine virgin forests, rivers and lakes and tundra.

There is a world-class rodeo held in Calgary, Alberta every year attracting the top cowboys and featuring events like chuck wagon races that you can't see at most rodeos.

Vancouver, British Columbia hosted the world at the 2010 Olympic Games and had the chance to show off some of their uniquely Canadian music, the diversity of its population and most of all some of the greatest winter athletes the games have ever known.

There is a tremendous sense of national pride in Canada, and to spite the fact that we're joined at the tip, no pun intended, they are not America's little brother, nor an English stepchild, they are Canadians, and proud of it, eh???

Long wave the maple leaf.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops, and for our country.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

©Copyright The Charlie Daniels Band