There is, according to popular belief, an ancient Chinese curse which goes: ‘May you live in interesting times.’ The curse is based on the belief that peace time is characterised by calm and tranquility (in other words, a lack of breaking news), while times of unrest or ‘interesting’ times are marked by a barrage of momentous world events.

What ‘interesting times’ we are living in nowadays.

The unequivocal demonstration of people power which was first witnessed in Tunisia is being repeated throughout the Arab world. The demand for regime change spread from Tunisia to Egypt and from there to Yemen, Bahrain and, most recently, Libya. Whether it is Tahrir Square in Cairo, Pearl Square in Manama, or the streets of Sanaa, Tripoli and Benghazi, the increasing confidence of Arab youths is clear. Almost as clear as the writing on the wall: Out with the old dictators, we want change for the better.

The reactions here in Canada to the events taking place in the Middle East have been intriguing to observe. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, embarrassed a significant number of his countrymen and women by calling for the maintaining of ‘stability’ on day 11 of the 18-day uprising in Egypt. ‘I don’t think there is any doubt from anyone who is watching this situation that transition is occurring, and will occur, in Egypt; the question is what kind of transition this will be,’ he said after a meeting with US President Barack Obama.

At the same press conference, President Obama at least had the good sense to lend his unequivocal support to the Egyptian people since it had became clear that they were not going to accept anything less than the resignation of their dictator of 30 years, Hosni Mubarak.

Harper’s qualified stance has led Canadian political commentators to bemoan the loss of the respected role that Canada once enjoyed in international affairs. Gone are the days of Lester Pearson (who, as Canadian foreign minister, played a vital role in defusing the Suez Crisis by pioneering UN peacekeeping) and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (who established Canadian diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China before the United States did, and was known to be a friend of Fidel Castro and Cuba).

Even former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien made considerable waves when he took a principled stand and refused to contribute Canadian troops to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Despite enormous pressure from the Bush White House he continued to argue that the war lacked UN Security Council sanction.

Today, by far the strongest reaction to the events in the Middle East has come from Canadian media outlets and their readers and viewers. The popularly read Toronto Star newspaper has nine journalists on the ground to report ‘as change sweeps through the Middle East.’ Every day for the last three weeks it has been giving front-page coverage to news from Cairo, Manama and Tripoli, while also offering full-length special reports and colour photographs from other countries in the region.

The Star’s editorials have open-heartedly supported the people’s movement and noted that the current unrest is stirred not by religion, but by the desire to be free from repression and poverty. According to the majority of the letters to the editor printed on the subject, most Star readers support this view.

One reader recalled the ‘brutish fashion in which our police dealt with the G20 demonstrators [in June 2010]’ while noting that the soldiers in Cairo who ‘confronted a true revolution maintained peace without resorting to violence.’ He concludes that ‘as a peaceful demonstrator I am safer in Cairo than I am in Toronto.’

Another reader wrote to ‘congratulate the people of Egypt who have reclaimed the role of scions of their nation’s magnificent past’, while yet another sees the ‘unbridled euphoria in the streets of Egypt’ as ‘a phoenix of freedom rising from the ashes of despotism.’

If you think that last letter to the editor was a little over the top by normally subdued Canadian standards, then you ain’t heard nothing yet. As one regime after another is being shaken to its core, Canadian TV news anchors and commentators have unleashed a litany of superlatives in support of the uprisings. And they declare that each word of praise is justified and well deserved.

Moments after Hosni Mubarak announced that he was stepping down, a seasoned reporter on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) news channel called the united nation-wide effort that forced his resignation ‘the greatest revolution in recent times.’ Even among the most jaded journalists and analysts one is able to detect a sense of awe and wonder at the fast-paced changes that are taking place in a region that has for so long been condemned as backward and incapable of change.

Now with the help of social networks that originated in the West, specifically Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, young people in Arab countries are mobilising like never before.

The young age of the protesters and their sheer number are factors that have been highlighted time and again by the cheering Canadian media. All the countries where the people are currently standing up in revolt share one significant demographic: more than half their population is under 25 years of age. In contrast, the median age in Canada is 40. And the same, or similar, is the case in most other developed economies.

So while there are those few who rightfully warn that there is a long way yet to go for the revolutions to be deemed a real success, the general reaction in Canada is one of hope. And there is a clear sense that what the Toronto Star calls ‘the long-awaited Arab awakening’ has finally dawned.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.