Canada: Let's push for more than just polite in 2017

It's time to take a hard look at our national story. 

As Canada marks 150 years since Confederation, we have a unique opportunity to refresh our national image; a chance to reflect on our history, assess our present and forecast our future in surprising new ways.

Beyond worn out quips about our politeness as a people, we might explore how a national identity is established in the first place and how ours is evolving. Or sort through national stereotypes to separate the enduring from the outdated. Or predict which living Canadians will be remembered in 150 years time and, in a global exchange of ideas, where Canada might take the lead.

With these questions in mind, we are excited to be running Canada 2017, CBC's year-long project to mark Canada's sesquicentennial. 

More than flags and fireworks

Beginning with CBC's first national New Year's broadcast since the kickoff to the sesquicentennial, we started the year reflecting on where we are as a nation, from our greatest achievements to our greatest challenges.

There will be room for both the celebratory and the critical, the fresh and the familiar, the playful and the philosophical. 

CBC's Canada 2017 team will curate content from across the CBC universe — great stories and special projects from across television, radio and digital.

While we will primarily focus on stories about the present and the future, we will also heed the warnings, triumphs and lessons of the past.

And when confronting challenges facing the country, we will point to many visions of where we might go from here.

What's your story?

Most of all, we want to hear your personal stories.

Our mission is to represent the broadest possible range of perspectives, particularly the unique, surprising and seldom heard from. 

We'll be joining and starting conversations, exploring many versions of Canada and asking lots of questions.

(What about Canada delights and inspires you? What about it bugs or worries you? Have you ever experienced culture shock within Canadian borders? Do you have your own "only in Canada" story?) 

Every story is a potential springboard into a bigger discussion, as we draw something deeper from our personal personal passions, regional perspectives and even our political differences. 

We humbly invite all Canadians to join us and make 2017 the year we take a closer look at each other.