With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free

There are few things I can say more proudly than the fact that I am Canadian. It is a nationality I identify strongly with as a person, but more importantly is an identity that I appreciate more and more every year of my life.

And while there will always be something to complain about - whether it be the weather or the traffic - at the end of the day, there is so much more I have to be proud of when it comes to being part of this huge, strong and stunning country. 

Strong appreciation and domination of hockey is also a bonus.

Which is why Wednesday was an absolutely gutting day for me.

There are so many ways that Wednesday in Ottawa really hit to the heart of what Canadians value and represent not only to ourselves but all over the world. 

It began at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. It is a symbol of our country's appreciation for those that have made the ultimate sacrifice in wearing the flag on their arms and over their hearts as they did battle during the First World War as well as internationally since. Like its sister in Vimy, France, it does not glorify the battles and victories of war. It does not hang banners reading "Mission Accomplished" or similar boasts. Instead, it mourns our collective losses and the young lives that had to be paid for a future the dead will never know.

Even as Hitler was tearing down war memorials during his Blitzkrieg during World War II, he would recognize the same noble message at the memorial at Vimy Ridge, and went so far as to order his own guards to protect it from vandalism.

This is not about the victory, but that thanks we give to those that came and paid with their lives to build towards it.

So when on Wednesday a man raised a gun and fired at an unarmed soldier standing guard at the War Memorial, it sent a shiver down the spine of this country. To do something like that at a place that memorializes our nation's grief, and against a soldier that is serving to protect that honour, can only be seen as an attack on it.

It is odious in some ways. Infuriating in all of it.

Despite the best efforts of first-responders and civilians, the soldier shot at the memorial would later die. Another name to be remembered, another memory to be enshrined at the Memorial he stood guard over when his life was taken away so senselessly. Another family's grief to be inherited by the statues the soldier stood beneath as he was brutally taken down.

The terror then spread to Parliament Hill, as a gunman then opened fired there. 

It is a building mere steps away from the Memorial, and a place where the country's policies and its messages are built, word by word and sometimes insult by insult. A lot can be said about those buildings and the people who work there, and plenty enough of it is not positive, however, it is a representation of our country at work. It is the place where how we are defined globally and where what is important to us is discussed.

There were servicemen injured, but there were many more running towards the danger as their training kicked into gear and their first reaction was to protect whoever needed protecting on that day. It began slowly and then happened all at once until finally it was over. The gunman was shot, and killed.

Some heroes emerged, but the day is not owned by the eventual victory but our collective tragedy. A soldier died this day on home soil, mere days after another lost his life to senseless violence in Quebec. 

But as the story continues to be pieced together on what happened this day, the story of how Canada feels about what happened is not in question.

We are not afraid. We are not scared. We are not cowed.

We are angry. We are united. 

We are the True North, strong and free.