We waved flags on Canada Day and proclaimed our pride, but one person in the crowd at Orangeville Legion unintentionally stood out as a symbol of one thing that has made our country great throughout its 143 years.

Sapper Frank Lomack Jr., was celebrating Canada Day with his father, Frank Sr., clad in his combat fatigues. On a future Canada Day he is likely to be in Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Engineers, engaged in disposal of IEDs or some other dangerous task.

He was, if one heeded the message MP David Tilson delivered at both Orangeville and Shelburne, and Mayor Ed Crewson delivered to loud applause at the more northerly town, a symbol of why we have remained as a relatively free and democratic nation for 143 years.

The Sappers, as the fighting engineers are known, are a valiant lot who in the past have built such as Bailey Bridges and communications lines in the face of the enemy. And now among their ranks are those who are specially trained to disarm explosive devices, bombs, or the IEDs used by the insurgents in Afghanistan. It takes a special kind of courage to do any of those things.

But their brave and selfless actions have been instrumental in saving Canadian lives and preserving the Canada that, according to a recent poll, the whole world loves.

The Historica- Dominion Institute poll of 18,000 completed responses throughout the world found that 53 per cent of respondents would move to Canada if able to.

Mayor Crewson, in his address, quoted the Toronto Star as saying that “the response in some countries was predictable, with 77 per cent in China and 71 per cent in Mexico saying they’d live here if only given the chance.”

But, he said when quoting the poll results, “about a third of the people in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” would prefer to live in Canada.

Mr. Tilson noted the role of Canada’s military in defence of freedom. Today, while the last remaining veterans of the First World War have departed and the ranks of those from the Second World War are dwindling along with some who served in both WWII and Korea, we have growing numbers of veterans and still-serving veterans of dangerous “peacekeeping” missions and now Afghanistan.

Many veterans of previous campaigns were at the Canada Day services in both towns.

They are not to be forgotten.

But Sapper Lomack perhaps symbolized not only a new volunteering generation but the country’s commitment to a continuation of its contribution to the defence of freedom.