Canadians have bad reasons for remembering the summer of 2003. Seemingly everything went wrong. Mad cow disease. SARS. Energy blackouts. Forest fires. West Nile virus.

One sick cow shut down exports of cattle to the United States and Japan, an economic blow for the Canadian livestock industry which will hurt farmers for years to come.

An outbreak of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, hit humans, spread fear, isolated patients, placed care workers in quarantine, and caused hospitals to introduce strict rules governing admission of visitors.

The impact on tourism was huge. Conventions were cancelled, hotel bookings were cancelled, and the industry at large suffered great losses.

The lights went out, the power went off, factory lines shut down, air travel was grounded, street cars in Toronto and the O Train in Ottawa were stopped in their tracks, and air conditioners in homes fell silent during some of the hottest days of the season, with the humidex climbing into the high thirties.

Lightening strikes during a prolonged dry and hot spell in the West set forests, brush and grasslands on fire, and the flames driven by high winds destroyed homes, businesses, killed wildlife, and caused tens of thousands of people to evacuate farms, settlements, and even much of the city of Kelowna in British Columbia.

An outbreak of West Nile virus in Manitoba, and its appearance in other provinces, have still to run their course.

Just how did Canadians deal with such adversities? With spirit, with determination, with co-operation. It was all summed up in the concern shown by one next door neighbour for another. "Are you all right? Do you need anything?" "What can I do to help?"

Big town, small town, in the mountain valleys or on the prairies, Canadians drew closer to each other, community ties were strengthened, with goodness, caring, and compassion helping offset the hardships of a summer many will remember for all the bad and for all the good reasons.

It is little wonder Canada is the envy of the world.

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