Simple things like feeling safe while walking down the street, having time to spend with your family or the changing seasons.

But on this Canada Day, new citizen Luis Lasso can tell you all about the great things this country has to offer.

Luis and his family — wife Hilda and son Juan — came from Armenia, a small city in the “coffee triangle” area of Colombia in 2005.

Back in Colombia, Luis, a geologist, had his own contracting company and also worked as a professor.

But life in his old country — living in condominium complexes with security forces, cars parked in compounds and bars on the windows — family lived in fear of being targetted by guerrilla groups who kidnap and extort business people in the country.

For example, says Luis, the guerrillas forces that run many parts of the Latin America country would act like the mafia, charging contractors a fee for working in areas they controlled and forcing them to hire particulars workers.

He says the final straw came after he tried to teach a group in a poorer region how to become more independent.

When the guerrillas learned this was being taught to people under their control, Luis was threatened.

“We had to flee the country,” says Luis as he describes problems with the guerrillas.

They had U. S. visas and friends stateside, but Hilda had been reading about Canada and it seemed to be the better choice for the family.

Hilda says she found Canada to be a more family-oriented country than the U. S.

“That was the most important thing,” she says.

But it wasn’t an easy transition. Luis says he was tipped off early on that he would need to speak English fluently before he would find a job in his field. He spent much of the first two years learning to speak the language of his new country.

He says he volunteered in a variety of places, from SISO to the Hamilton police service, and would get involved in other activities to push himself to practice his new language. It paid off and he’s working as a geologist for Peel Region.

Luis says it wasn’t until leaving Colombia that he could truly see how life was back home.

“After you leave Colombia, you understand,” he says, “because you grew up in that environment you don’t feel it. But after coming here is when you realize it.”

The family received Canadian citizenship in May.

While he still loves Colombia and misses his family there, Luis says he won’t be returning there to live.

As a newcomer, Luis says it’s easy to see why Canada is continually rated one of the best countries in the world to live.

“It’s an excellent country with a lot of opportunity,” he says. “Now I understand why Canada is always (ranked) in the top 10 places.”

“We are completely sure we made the best decision to come here,” says Hilda.