Canada Day
 

Happy Canada Day (one day early) to my fellow Canadians. Canada Day's going to be fairly big in Vancouver this year, because the decision for the 2010 Olympics is going to be made the day after (July 2).

How will you spend your Canada Day?

Could you please explain Canada Day to this silly American? :)

This silly American had a lot of learning to do too, BetaRose. :)

Canada Day is the celebration of Canada's Confederation.

From the National Library of Canada:

(Confederation is) the coming together of the colonies in British North America. Three colonies were made into four provinces. These were Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They became the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. The other provinces and territories joined later.

From the Canadian Heritage Website:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/special/canada/11/canada_e.cfm

Canada Day is an opportunity to gather in our communities, from sea to sea, and to proudly celebrate all we have in common. It is an opportunity to celebrate our achievements, which were born in the audacious vision and shared values of our ancestors, and which are voiced in nearly all of the languages of the world through the contribution of new Canadians.

Canada Day is a time to celebrate the heritage passed down to us through the works of our authors, poets, artists and performers. It is a time to rejoice in the discoveries of our scientific researchers, in the success of our entrepreneurs, and to commemorate our history — a history in which each new chapter reveals itself to be more touching, more fascinating than the last.

As we look ahead, we have every reason to face the future with confidence and enthusiasm.

Canada
 

Or a basic definition is it's Canada's Birthday :)

I spent last Canada Day in Ottawa and it was a party and a half!!! I had a blast! I recommend every Canadian to spend at least one Canada Day in Ottawa...you'll have so much fun!!

Anyhoo, I'm not doing anything right now. I might do something tonight though, and just chill tomorrow, and maybe catch the firworks.

I don't know, it's been pretty busy in Toronto this past week...with Pride week and everything...this city just keeps going, which is good after SARS and all.

Anyway, I am just rambling now.

HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYONE!!!!


P.S Happy Belated Pride too! :D

Re: Canada
 

Did you catch the fun on parliment hill?

That used to be one of my jobs :) Big black furry hat, hot as hell red jacket, and a rifle. I worked as a Ceremonial Guard for a couple of summers while in the military.

The only thing more fun is the levee at the Governor General's house on New Years day.....

We have a mixed household...
I am American and my husband is Canadian...
We haven't decided what we will do...probably have a cookout

I don't have any major plans. I may go out after work tomorrow and see what's going on around town - I'm waiting for July 2nd ;), man am I nervous.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~bleeck/canada/waveflag.gifhttp://images.animfactory.com/animat..._fl_md_wht.gif
In honor of the Canadian Commenwealth's birthday, this Yankee will lead everyone in a verse of their national anthem.

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North, strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Refrain
O Canada, glorious and free!
We stand on guard, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

O Canada! Where pines and maples grow.
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western Sea,
Thou land of hope for all who toil!
Thou True North, strong and free!

Refrain

O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart sons and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years
From East to Western Sea,
Our own beloved native land!
Our True North, strong and free!

Refrain

Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion within thy loving care;
Help us to find, O God, in thee
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the Better Day,
We ever stand on guard.

Refrain

Mrs. DeltAlum returned just today from Toronto.

When we lived in Detroit, it was really fun during the first week of July when Windsor and Detroit celebrated the Canadian/American Freedom Festival at the riverfront.

Question? Was Canada Day orginally called Dominion Day? I seem to remember that, but it was over twenty years ago.

In any event, I used to love to watch CBC's coverage -- especially one year when it was several hours long, and had segments from all over the country. Toward the end of the coverage, a Metropolitan Opera star (who I guess was named an honorary Canadian), sang Oh Canada on Parliament Hill with fireworks going off all around -- which I thought was a really neat finale -- until it was followed by a single piper playing Amazing Grace.

Amazing was a good word for it.

And I've loved Oh Canada since the first time I heard it! A great anthem!

Happy Birthday, Canada!

I plan to sleep in :D

Seriously, I was perturbed that I didn't get a long weekend and had to head back from the cottage last night to work this morning (ugh). So tomorrow I'm enjoying my day off and doing nothing.

I've done the Parliament Hill party in the past and it was amazing. Although, last time I went I think it was about 10 degrees and they had to cancel the fireworks b/c it was so windy.

I may to go Ontario Place and watch the fireworks, if I can gather up the energy ;)

And might I say, docetboy, that there are verses in O Canada that I've NEVER heard of before! I know the first 2 (in French and English of course) but the last 2 are new to me!

And I would venture to say that 99% of U.S. citizens don't even know that there are additional verses to The Star Spangled Banner.

They are beautiful as well, by the way.

Once again, happy birthday to both countries.

I know how you feel - I didn't get my long weekend either. In fact my first long weekend that I can enjoy since easter is BC Day - I spent the Victoria Day weekend studying for finals :eek:.

Yeah, the fireworks were last wednesday but I missed them - i was out of town.

tomorrow I plan on watching the Canada Day parade here, although it is pretty small. Then on to grab some free birthday cake at the river. That's one big cake!!

July 4th I'm going to one of the music concerts at the river - they've got a lot of good music acts this year compared to the past - but they started charging :(

And, I do believe it was Dominion Day since we are officially the Dominion of Canada...but that was before my time so I guess I'm not 100% certain.

I'll be sure to wear my Canada handkerchief (sp?) tomorrow(well today I mean since it's already 1 am)!

Maybe I'll drag out my Canada trivia game and see if anyone wants to play with me (no one ever does, since I always win)

We are going to be looking at a house we will most likely rent!

Canada is cool?
 

Happy birthday Canada!

Here is an article from my hometown paper, the Boston Globe.

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/18...ool_eh_+.shtml

Cool, eh?

Showing a plucky independence with its tolerance and diversity, Canada has never been more hip

By Alex Beam, Globe Staff, 7/1/2003

Happy Canada Day! Yes, it was just 136 years ago today that Canada signed its first constitution. True, it took our north-of-the-border friends another 64 years to break free of their colonial masters in London, but we're here to celebrate, not criticize.

Remember when Canada was just plain cold? Think Farley Mowat chasing wolves across ice floes. Think goalie Gump Worsley clogging up the goalmouth for the Montreal Canadiens. Think of Canada's unflattering nickname: ''Snow Mexico.''

That was then. Now Canada has gone from cold to cool. Call it global zeitgeist warming. It may be the coolest place on earth. Canada is what Cambridge would like to be: ethnically diverse, tolerant, committed to public transportation. And it's becoming the most permissive place on earth, west of Stockholm. You can buy all the pot you need in ''Vansterdam'' -- Vancouver -- a city so hip that Seattle grungies trek northward just to savor its heady melange of multicultural fusion. Needle exchange programs? Canada's got 'em. Pretty soon they will be adding their own full-service heroin dens: Vancouver will host the first ''safe injection site'' for drug addicts anywhere in North America.

Would you like a same-sex marriage? No need to travel to the barren shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont to sample former governor Howard Dean's half-baked ''civil unions'' compromise. The Canadian government is committed to full marital parity for gays and straights.

Got universal health care? Sure do, eh? Got cheap prescription drugs? So cheap the Yankee pillpoppers are shuffling north from Buffalo.

Did you see the movie ''Chicago''? They should have called it ''Toronto.'' It was filmed there, as are an alarmingly large number of Hollywood movies.

If you don't feel like being part of the cheering section for the Coalition of the Willing, come on up! South of Sault Ste. Marie, if you oppose George Bush's Iraqi adventure, John Ashcroft is writing down your name, and he's marking it twice. In Canada, Prime Minister Jean Chretien's speaking out on Operation Iraqi Freedom prompted Bush to cancel a summit. So what does Chretien do? He jets to the Dominican Republic to play golf with Bill Clinton -- who happens to have been keeping company with a billionaire bombshell, 36-year-old Toronto auto parts magnate Belinda Stronach, according to the CanWest News Service. What kind of country has a 30-something auto parts magnate who looks like the young Meryl Streep? Our kind of country, we say.

So Happy Canada Day, esteemed northern neighbors. You're cool and you know it.



A brief history of cool Canada, the last half-century

1953
Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson forms trio with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown

1955
Glenn Gould releases recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations

1958
Seagram Building is completed in New York

1964
Marshall McLuhan publishes "Understanding Media"

1970
Donald Sutherland plays "Hawkeye" Pierce in "M*A*S*H"

1976
"SCTV" debuts

1983
Peter Jennings is named sole anchor of "World News Tonight"

1992
Graydon Carter is named editor of Vanity Fair; Toronto Blue Jays win firrst of two consecutive World Series

1993
"The X-Files," fi lmed in Vancouver, debuts

1997
Sarah McLachlan launches Lilith Fair

2003
Mike Weir wins The Masters golf tournament



MARK FEENEY

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 7/1/2003.