Park in Alberta, Canada

Canada is a country located in the northern part of North America. Canada shares a land border with the United States to the south and northwest. Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its commonwealth realm comprises 16% of the world's landmass. Canada's population is about 37 million people. Canada has two official languages: English and French. Canada is a developed country and has the fifteenth-highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the twelfth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Canada is a member of the United Nations, the G7, the G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth of Nations, Francophonie, Organization of American States, and La Francophonie.

A park is a conflicted space. It is a place where people can come to feel close to nature, to breathe in the fresh air and to appreciate the quiet beauty of the natural world. And yet, it is also a place where people come to picnic and to play, to laugh and to yell. The sounds of children at play can sometimes seem like an intrusion, a reminder that this is not truly wilderness but rather a manmade space. And yet, without these sounds, the park would lose some of its charm. It would be a place of stillness and solitude, rather than a place of life and vitality. In the end, the park is what we make of it. It is a reflection of our desire to find balance between our need for connection with nature and our need for connection with each other.