Dany Assaf - Say Please and Thank You & Stand in Line: One mans story of what makes Canada special, and how to keep it that way

Its often said that hockey is a religion in Canada, but on Monday, June 17 in 2019, it was a basketball team that called the city to worship. I rushed from my office through the pedestrian walkways beneath Torontos business district, making my way towards city hall and Nathan Phillips Square. I was meeting with my family: none of us wanted to miss out on history. The usually bustling underground walkways were eerily empty; everyone else was already out in the street, two million people lined up to celebrate the Toronto Raptors and their NBA championship. I finally emerged from the subterranean maze into the sunshine of the square and found myself amid a sea of ecstatic people, a crowd as diverse as it was deep.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Perhaps there were echoes of the celebrations that followed the 1972 Canada/Russia hockey summit, but those scenes, which took place almost fifty years ago, would have looked very different. The complexion of contemporary Toronto is unique. It is now the most multicultural city in the world, with 230 nationalities and 140 languages, and Im sure every single one of them was in Nathan Phillips Square as the Raptors arrived on the team bus.

It is one thing to read statistics about Torontos remarkable diversity in race, religion, and nationality, and quite another to find yourself in a moment where you are completely immersed in it. The New York Times ran an article under the headline The Raptors Win, and Canada Learns to Swagger and captured the moment with these words: in addition to all those ball caps, there were turbans and hijabs Everyone was represented, and everyone was representing Never before had I felt more connected to our flag.

It occurred to me that one reason this hockey town had so wholeheartedly embraced a basketball team was that the Raptors themselves had one of the most diverse lineups in professional sport. No matter who you were, you could see a piece of yourself to cheer for. The roster included a Cameroonian, a Congolese, a Spaniard, an American of Taiwanese descent, a Brit born of Nigerian parents, a Montrealer, and several Americans. The Raptors American coach, Nick Nurse, summed it up this way: I tell everybody this all the time. This place is unique. Im kind of an international guy, Ive lived in a few countries and I kind of like the spirit of the cultural diversity here in Toronto, in our organization and our staff, the team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs might have deeper roots in local history, but the Raptors represented the new Toronto, indeed, the new Canada, and what can be accomplished when many come together as one. While we were out there celebrating our teams victory on June 17, we were also celebrating ourselves.

The day was not perfect. Four people were shot near Nathan Phillips Square (all fortunately survived) and we had also just come out of a contentious provincial election which was surrounded by what has now become the usual election circus atmosphere, including some divisive arguments over immigrants. These tensions were reminders that we are always vulnerable to succumbing to our fears and letting our worst instincts dictate how the world works.

Now, with the world as it is, it feels like history is calling us to either harness the power of our multicultural assets, socially and economically, at home and on the world stage, or be torn apart by our differences. One need not look far to see what happens when one faction or sect portrays another as the enemy. Sometimes it feels we are in a time when our narcissism is in combat with our willingness to listen to others, leaving little space for us to grow and learn from one another. The consequences are not only the lost opportunities to genuinely fix whats fallen apart but also the mistrust, injustice, and oppression, and sometimes violence and death, that this division can bring.

My familys story encompasses moments of otherness, but it mostly speaks to the incredible inclusivity of Canada. That June morning, spent celebrating the Raptors and their victory, reaffirmed for me why Canada remains a special place in a messy world. However, my path through life has shown me enough to never take that special quality for granted. I would never have believed, for instance, that our neighbour to the south could degenerate so quickly into incivility, sanctioned by the highest office in the land. I worry what would await future generations of Canadians if we spend our days trying to find meaning in ourselves through anger at the other.

We must resist. Genuine progress needs to be anchored by trust, mutual respect, and consensus. That is the path to prosperity; the other leads to ruin. Canada, however imperfect, has been as welcoming to diverse peoples as any country on the face of the earth, with so many wonderful results. Ive written this book in the hopes that we continue to build on the finest of our heritagewhat I like to call the Canadian wayand never lose sight of what is best in us.