Sorry to pile on, but this discussion of Canadian patriotism has hit on one of my pet peeves. Canadians, in my experience, are among the loudest, most persistent patriots on earth…and they’re never called on it!! Whenever Americans delve into über-patriotism there are always tons of people around ready and eager to put us back in our place and denounce our arrogance. (Sometimes, in fact, we’re attacked pre-emptively, before we’ve even done anything.) But when Canadians do the exact same thing – or worse – everyone just smiles blandly and ignores it. It’s like there’s this great, blinding myth that Candians couldn’t possibly be arrogant, because they’re all so polite and self-effacing and cosmopolitan, especially compared to those terrible Americans they have to live near. Bull. If I’m told one more time – without asking – about how the UN named Canada the best place to live, or the superiority of Canadian laws on this or that, or how civilized Canadians are, etc. ad nauseum…
Sorry, I’ve been rude. The discussion on this topic so far has been all in the family, and it’s not really my place to comment. Just had to vent. 
Canadians certainly have plenty to be proud of; just tone it down a bit – as much, for example, as you’d want to hear Americans go on and on about their country.
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As for Quiddity, I have to say this–I don’t necessarily disagree with your views and ideals, but if all you base your “love of country” on are the isms du jour, then I’d suggest that you are not in love with Canada, but intead, with nothing more than ideas that are currently in vogue. You do state that “…I left Calgary and would leave Canada if social conservative views became the norm,” which I’m taking to mean just what it says. With all due respect, Quiddity, and you are free to disagree with me all you want, I suggest that “Canadian patriotism” is more than loving the isms to which Canada subscribes today; rather, it is a knowledge of this country: its people, culture, geography, what it has done well and poorly throughout its history, and choosing to stand by it because of (or in spite of) all these things. To me anyway, that, more than professing certain values and ideas, is real Canadian patriotism. Running away to live in a place that is more in line with your values and ideals, isn’t.
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I agree. Your country should be more to you than the sum of its current policies. You can love a country’s politics and not love your country – and vice versa. For example, I don’t see any contradiction in Russians who fled the Soviet Union because they hated communism, but continued to love Russia for all its other qualities and meanings. Many German Jews, who more than anyone had reason to hate their country, continued to love Germany after the war (as was the case with the parents of an aquaintance of mine).