The city of Richmond on west coast Canada includes many youths recently arrived from countries who are used to some of their new neighbors in Canada as blood mortal enemies. Yet, by working with the families, and most of all the children, the city of Richmond has a low violent crime rate, a fraction of most comparable American cities.



It has taken many discussions between varying groups, to finds ways to live quite strange different lives in harmony. And yet in this lovely island city by the sea, with the grand mountains as backdrop it is happening.

I live also in a city surrounded by water with a view of mountains, lovely Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 50 miles by seagull or ferry from Richmond. Chinese legend is that to live at such a place is Heaven on Earth; all seem to move here to seek that and it does help the mood.

We others then seem to try to behave accordingly, and almost all become excellent new citizens.

I experienced an example of this evolving new Canada, and hopefully America, and hopefully the world while waiting recently at a mall escalator: ahead of me was an young Chinese Canadian lad with an elderly Chinese woman.

She was holding up foot traffic, and she was obviously nervous about stepping on the escalator. She excitedly spoke loudly in Chinese, and I presumed she was asking the boy to help get her hand on the escalator hand rail.

The young lad quickly looked back at me, an old male silver back in a navy blazer, and he quickly said "speak English, grandma". And grandma shouted at him in English, "speak English, speak English. You no good little Chinese boy any more. You little Canadian boy", and muttered to herself in Mandarin, turning from him.

That boy told me, and her, and you, how the world should evolve when he responded, "Well, yeah, grandma. We live in Canada". Fill in your nation there.

And just then, he and I looked down and saw three young boys coming by: an East Indian, a Chinese and an Anglo, and they all had same shop but different ball caps on and all gave each other a school wave, I presumed. Being inclusive with people can really create a good news story, indeed.

The Economist said several years ago that Canada does it better. I think their point was as a nation of migrants Canada and Australia and America find it easier to keep learning to move over a bit, lots of room, how do you pronounce your name, welcome.

We can adjust and try to make more welcome those who lives amidst us to feel welcome, and violence will not be tolerated. Rather than riots as in London or Paris from isolated groups stuck in a ghetto, far better to learn to live and let live, and that is what is happening, more than not, in Richmond, and, we know, many places in America.

And as they say, or should, if you can make it happen there, you could make it happen anywhere.Great place, great time, anywhere, to get on with it.