Despite wreaking havoc with work schedules, we don’t mind celebrating Canada Day mid-week.
It’s an important day in this country’s history.
We tend to celebrate July 1 at the family cottage in Kincardine. The town there puts on a great Canada Day event complete with a parade, official ceremony and a noon-hour time of fun for kids of all ages.
At dusk impressive fireworks are set off over the lake.
Canada Day, still referred to in some quarters as Dominion Day, is a celebration of the anniversary of Confederation, which formally recognized the joining of the province of Canada (Upper and Lower) with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to make a federation of provinces.
The vast majority of “new” Canadians at that time were immigrants who had left Europe seeking political and religious freedom, adventure in an untamed setting, and in some cases the real appeal of North America was a chance to own land.
Nearly a century and a half later, the call of Canada continues to reverberate around the world. Our country continues to afford immigrants the opportunity to practice religion freely, to openly hold certain views and the chance to work hard and prosper.
Immigrants now flock from all corners of the globe, as opposed to mostly from Europe. It has made for a diverse society with new celebrations and ideas. We believe most of these groups appreciate the freedom Canada offers all of its citizens.
We comment often to friends or family how lucky we are to live in this country. All one really needs to do is watch the News and see droughts and famines elsewhere to realize we have a leg up on many regions of the world.
As for violence and military action, we haven’t had the experiences found in many countries where squabbles continue to pound cities and peoples into the ground. We remain sheltered for the most part from these age-old fights.
Any hint of that freedom being placed in jeopardy should be contested vigorously to ensure future Canadians have the same freedoms we cherish, yet sometimes take for granted.
