Good morning. I’m Erin Anderssen and I set out to find happy Canadians to share lessons with us about staying positive, making connections and flourishing in 2025. More on that below, plus diversity in Canada’s top courts and what else to know for the week ahead.
Today’s headlines
- Trudeau is expected to announce his exit as party leader before Wednesday’s national caucus meeting
- Thousands of caregivers’ status at risk as immigration programs stall
- ‘The Brutalist,’ ‘Emilia Perez’ win top film honours at the Golden Globes
Illustration by Nada Hayek/The Globe and Mail
We asked Canadians
What makes a happy life?
This fall, when I first conceived of asking Canadians to send The Globe and Mail the names of the “happiest person they know,” I was certainly not expecting the detailed and heartwarming submissions I received over the last several months. (And which continue to come in, even now.)
Friends, family members and partners described people who were good listeners, generous volunteers and gentle jokers – the kind of person you could count on when life was lousy, and who is resilient when facing adversity. Some wrote about best friends who nourished a room with their positive presence. Granddaughters celebrated grandmothers who “radiated happiness,” and vice versa. Fathers and husbands were lauded for their stalwart problem-solving during family stress.
Illustration by Nada Hayek/The Globe and Mail
I may have been a little skeptical: Could these people really be this happy? Then I began my interviews, and each conversation brightened the rest of my day. I finished every one with lessons for my own life.
My story based on those first interviews is summed up with 12 kernels of advice that could serve as New Year’s resolutions for all of us. The wisdom includes: Stay curious about the people you love. Take pleasure in achieving small goals. Forgive others – and yourself.
“Don’t let the old man in,” Rose Simpson, 68, an Ottawa writer, told me, quoting actor Clint Eastwood, as a reminder to not allow a cranky and inflexible persona to seize your life narrative.
Jo-Ann Liburd, 53, a communications consultant for non-profits in Toronto, reminded me to invest most in friends who set a positive example. “Finding and holding on to people you admire is hands-down one of the most important things for cultivating happiness,” she said.
Jo-Anne Liburd on her Vespa after church during Toronto Pride 2023.Supplied
As a group, they taught the value of taking risks to step off the wrong path. Nearly 50 years ago, Tom Bonic, 81, abandoned what he believed was his life’s purpose – to become a Jesuit priest – and found love and a fulfilling career. Sonya Danzig, a Toronto-based recruiter who emigrated from Russia as a young woman, found her true self after leaving an unhappy marriage. Now 63, Danzig also talked about the value of simple joys, such as the lovely flower she carries around her apartment, and her licence plate, HAPPY4NR, which makes her smile every time she hops in her car.
Thomas Bonic and his wife begin their 50 year relationship in 1974.Thomas Bonic/Supplied
Toward the end of 2024, I had one of my most powerful interviews. I spoke to Noortje Kunnen in Fredericton, N.B., who, at 47, is facing stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and will need to be in treatment for the rest of her life.
She told me, “it’s very easy to get sad and upset about all the bad things in the world and the things that can happen to you.” But look around, she said, and you can experience beauty and delight: an Irish setter puppy up to mischief, a friend who drops by for tea with a puzzle, a joke that gives you the giggles while scrolling on Facebook.
Illustration by Nada Hayek/The Globe and Mail
“Some people think happy means laughing and dancing in the kitchen all day,” she said. But happiness, for her, is being content with where you are, and grateful for what you have. “And yes, of course, I do dance in the kitchen too. But not all day, every day.”
My favourite lesson was the one that Kunnen and so many others talked about: to prioritize fun, and worry less about what other people think. Those moments, they say, are how relationships become strong. That’s when you learn the power of joy, and build resilience for when life turns serious.
I plan to interview more of these happy Canadians in the months ahead. As this project proves, practising joy, openness and optimism pays off: We know happiness when we see it, and we love the people who share theirs with us.
The chart
‘Diversity helps the strength of the bench’
A decade ago, and forever before that, a clear majority of judges on Canada’s most important courts were white men. Now, a new generation of judges is redefining what Canada’s top courts look like. Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said that it ”also helps with the confidence that Canadians have in the administration of justice by seeing themselves reflected in it.”
The Week
What we’re following
Today: N.L. legislature convenes for special session to debate hydro power deal with Quebec. Also the Australian Open starts today.
Tuesday: Public accounts committee meeting (and the possibility to introduce a non-confidence motion).
Thursday: Sentencing set to begin in the Coutts trucker protest mischief case. Also, U.S. stock markets will close for a day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.
Friday: Statistics Canada will release jobs data for December. In November, Canada’s unemployment rate jumped to its highest level in years.
This week: This is the first full trading week of 2025, check out what else you need to know about the business week ahead in the Business Brief newsletter.