My Home & Native Land

About a week ago, I was talking with a rather senior person in my office. I was speaking fondly of an old colleague of mine back home who had the left the company and I was personally sad to see her go. He asked why she left and I told him that at the time, the activity level wasn't going to provide her with the professional opportunties/challenges she was looking for. He responded, "but she could have moved with the group, she should not have left". I responded with, "she has a young daughter, she doesn't want to leave, not yet anyway". Insert a look of disbelief here. Then he responded, dripping with a bit of arrogance and a splash of disdain, "of course, Canadians don't want to leave do they? They would rather just stay where they are."

Well, sir, let me explain. He's never been to my hometown , to AB or Canada.

Professionally, for those of us in natural resources, we have conventional oil/gas exploration and we also have a variety of unconventional - shale gas, heavy oil, oilsands and lots of H2S challenges. Pick your professional challenge and opportunity to grow. We have some amazing experts and technology happening.

Outside of that - a vibrant city that is growing. Creativity, green iniatives and a spirit of entrepreneurship and a strong Western heritage. Space. Healthcare (albeit challenging at times), education, a variety of post-secondary options. So many golf courses you can trip over them. Sky. Mountains. Water. Multi-culturalism - I learned about Ramadan in elementary school, not the first time I came to the Middle East.

Freedom and opportunity. Here, I meet at least one person a month who are actively trying to move to Canada. People from less fortunate backgrounds often tell me that I am lucky. Lucky to be Canadian. And you know what? I am lucky.

Of course not all Canadians want to stay where they are. I meet Canadians every day travelling the world, working abroad. We are all enjoying ourselves, learning and experiencing. But every Canadian I meet - we all know we come from a pretty kick a** place.

I didn't bother enlighting my colleague. I will wait until he sees it for himself!