O Canada, how we adore you. You're a beautiful, mountainous land filled with moose, flannel, and marriage equality, and we Americans are thrilled to share a border with your gloriousness. Even better, we are thrilled that you share so much gloriousness with us. From Orphan Black to Shay Mitchell, the list could be endless, but here are 9 gifts Canada has given us. We couldn't be more grateful.
1. Ellen Page: We talk about Ellen Page a lot. Like constantly. We mean all the time. But without Canada, we wouldn't be able to talk about Ellen Page at all (we're assuming, probably), and what kind of world would that be? Ellen even started acting in Canada in such fodder as Trailer Park Boys, I Downloaded a Ghost, and Ghost Cat (we're still waiting for the mashup sequel, I Downloaded a Ghost Cat). We look forward to years upon years of gushing over Ellen, all thanks to Canada.
2. Tegan and Sara: Everything is awesome. Need we say more? We don't, but we will. Lesbian twin musicians Tegan and Sara have been literally rocking out our world for two decades now, and now they're even Oscar nominees. Now that's a bomb collection of words to describe a band. We really couldn't imagine a better song then their Lego Movie anthem "Everything is Awesome" to explain our love for these crooning Canadians.
3. Tatiana Maslany and Orphan Black: Many of us may believe that Tatiana Maslany is actually heaven-sent, but Canada's a close runner up. Additionally, Orphan Black came out of and takes place in Canada. We could pretty much make every clone the rest of the numbers on this list, but we'll move on for now. Otherwise, we may just have to ramble on about Orphan Black, Tatiana, and Cosima and Delphine's sexy science experiments for a long time. We applaud you, Canada.
4. Anna Paquin: Not only is Anna Paquin a dynamite Oscar Award-winning actress, but she's also been awesomely open about her bisexuality since coming out in 2010. We love watching Anna kick-ass in shows like True Blood, but even better, we love her throwing down some serious truths and clearing up misconceptions about bisexuality to people like Larry King. Is you could win another Oscar just for being awesome (and awesomely Canadian), we'd totally give it to you, Anna!
5. Shay Mitchell: It is absolutely no secret how much we love Shay Mitchell. On Pretty Little Liars, we've watched her character Emily grow from nervously departing the closet to having so many love connections we were able to make a quiz out of it. Also, let's definitely take a moment to fondly remember her Maxim covershoot. In truth, though the 'A' debacle is getting a little out of hand in Rosewood, if it means more Shay Mitchell on our screens we're happy to keep tuning in.
6. Lost Girl & Bomb Girls: Let's definitely give three cheers right now for women on Canadian TV. In fact, Canada is so good about TV shows starring women they're literally in the titles. Even more than that, both Lost Girl and Bomb Girls feature compelling, kick-ass queer female leads whose sexualities and relationships are important parts of their respective shows. Ali Liebert as Betty McRae stole our hearts on Bomb Girls as a factory worker struggling with her sexuality in the 1940s. Honestly, there are too many lesbian and bisexual characters on Lost Girl to even count them all right now. And, of course, let's not forget Orphan Black's inclusion of a queer female lead as well. Canadian TV is just flat-out wonderful, okay? May all shows take note!
7. k.d. lang: A brilliant, Grammy-award winning lesbian musician and advocate for LGBT rights who's so cool she doesn't even need to capitalize her name? Yes please, and thank you Canada. Those who were lucky enough got to catch her in After Midnight on Broadway last season, and those who didn't really wish they'd won the contest Shewired once held for tickets. May we be graced with her onstage presence again soon!
8. Kate McKinnon's Justin Bieber Impersonation: No, we are certainly not celebrating Justin Bieber, but we are celebrating every moment of this. Thank you, Kate McKinnon, for being Justin Bieber's silver lining.
Degrassi: How on earth could we write an article about what Canada has given us and not include Degrassi? Not only has this show been on essentially forever, but it's covered literally every teen issue under the sun. It's had lesbian relationships upon lesbian relationships (although let's be real, it's all about Paige and Alex 4ever) and will undoubtedly produce even more queer teens whose lives we become addicted to following in the future. Sure, it's had its fair share of problematic storylines and portrayals over the years, but it's still taken on some really important points of view that aren't often tackled on TV. It is also destined to run endlessly, and it's always nice to have something to count on! Dear Canada, you truly are a prize to be treasured. Thanks for all the good times we have now and the good times yet to come!
