Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Happy Canada Day!

I've always been proud to live in Canada and today is no different.  I think our five trips camping in our tent trailer while travelling coast to coast (twice each) with our children and seeing 20 National Parks did more for me than anything else.  There is beauty in every part of the country.

Today marks 153 years since Confederation.  With the provinces of Canada still British colonies, it was the British North America Act that was proclaimed in the British Parliament on July 1st 1867 that started Canada on its way to becoming the nation it is now.

Just four provinces started it, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (then Canada East) and Ontario (then Canada West) joined in the original Confederation.  Manitoba, PEI, B.C. and the Yukon joined a few years later, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905 and Newfoundland finally in 1949.  This is the Canada we celebrate now.

But the vast northern territories that were formerly Rupert's Land which was purchased in 1870 made the biggest difference to the indigenous people.  Though treaties were signed in the following decades (except in B.C.), the promises of those treaties were never kept.

Not only that, but the co-operative attitudes that had prevailed during 250 years of the fur trade years were replaced by the prevailing paternalistic attitude that led to the Indian Act and the residential schools catastrophe.   It will take more decades for reconciliation to heal the scars of that horrible history.

So I greet this Canada Day with a hope that we can learn to live together in the future.  It's about time!  And that hope could apply so much more widely given today's prevailing news.  I wish it for you all.

21 comments:

  1. Happy Canada Day to you and your family!

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  2. Happy Canada Day to you and I too hope we can make up for past mistakes.

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  3. Happy Canada Day to all of you north of the border - you should be proud. If you lived down here you'd have a lot of reasons to be embarrassed and ashamed. So have a good day.

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  4. Happy Canada Day wishes to you and your family.

    All the best Jan

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  5. Happy Canada Day, and yes, we can all do better.

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  6. I agree with you that we have some issues that should be attended to however , I'm doubtful that much will positive will happen.

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  7. Happy Canada Day! I hope you had nicer weather than we had.

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  9. Happy Canada Day! I am part Canadian and very proud to be, as my mother was born in Canada and came to Australia as a child. Her father came to Canada from Scotland and married then came to Australia with their two children.

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  10. I hear you. It's bittersweet for many, especially First Nations.
    We must ensure that the next 150 are better. We are moving in the right direction. Albeit slowly.

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  11. Happy Canada Day! Wish I was a Canadian. :-)

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  12. happy canada day!! canada, a wonderful place!!

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  13. Very nice Canada Day tribute, FG. It was a lovely day!

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  14. Happy Canada to you. I have always like you flag.

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  15. We are certainly fortunate to live in the finest country on this entire Planet.

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  16. Happy belated Canada Day to you. My sister is a Canadian citizen living in Kelowna, BC. Great area Glad you got to drive across the Deception Pass bridge.
    MB

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