2017 - the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love.
Hippie "freaks" hanging out in Toronto's Yorkville changed the spirit of Canada. The hippie counter culture opened minds and changed hearts of Canadians, leading to the multicultural society we are today.  Lifestyles of the 1967 hippies embodied current Canadian values of tolerance and diversity, live and let live. But they lived them decades before they became acceptable and popularized.

  Unfortunately, often when folks are ahead of their time in their political savvy, their beliefs, expanded cultural values,, they suffer persecution. The savvy and tolerance of the majority lags years behind the avant garde. Often those who have the moral courage to fight discrimination and liberate folks from repression are hated by the establishment and the majority whose understanding lags behind.

  Today, hippies, long haired men, street people, those with 1960's hippie values, are still scapegoated.
  Time to celebrate love and peace.