Canada, the world's funniest country…eh?
--- By Bob 'Idea Man' Hooey 
People think Canadians are a serious people and we are, about our beer, our hockey and our politics. Ok, I lied about the politics, eh? 
I was sitting in the Citadel Theatre last night watching a 75-year old man bounce around the stage keeping the audience totally entertained as he talked and joked about Canada and all things Canadian. 
I refer, of course, to that great Canadian icon and fellow CAPS member Dave Broadfoot, CSP. For more than two hours he entertained us with stories and word plays that poked fun at our politicians, our food, our ethnic diversity, our sports, and our sense of humour. And I wasn't the only one with sore sides when I left. 
It got me thinking about our great country. Why is Canada great, you may ask? 
My feeling is our sense of humour is rooted in not taking ourselves too seriously. One of the things I've noticed as I work with business leaders across Canada is the more successful they are, the less serious they take themselves and the more likely they are to tell jokes about themselves, too. Perhaps Canada is a bit more mature about life than our fellow countries. Perhaps we are just a little more fun to be around in the first place. 
•	Where else would we have a TV show called “This hour has 22 minutes” whose only premise is to take pokes and jokes at our expense? 
•	Where else would this show be funded by public money and aired on our own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to millions of Canadian taxpayers every week? 
Canada is a great place to live because of the people who live here. People, who are willing to look at themselves, see the humour and share that humour with the world. 
And, I'm not kidding! 
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About the author: 

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey is a sought after productivity strategist, creativity catalyst and idea farmer (http://www.ideafarmer.biz), who regularly writes for North American consumer, association and trade journals, on-line magazines and company intranets. He is the author of nine books, a mini-book series, four success systems and an e-book series. Bob is a motivational, business and association keynote conference speaker and executive leadership trainer and coach (http://www.leadersedge.biz). He is a professional member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and the International Federation for Professional Speakers. 

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