About July 1st: Canada Day

Thought some of you might be interested in what July 1st is all about here in Canada.  As a Canadian (born and lived here all my life), having studied about the history of Canada in school; now many years later, I tend to forget some of my own country’s history and be more on top of what is happening in other parts of the world.

So, even though this is meant to share with you, the reader, it is equally a refresher course for me the blogger on my own country.

Canada Day:  What’s It About?

Canada Day is July 1st of every year. It’s the day when we Canadians (used to) enjoy relaxing and spending time with family & friends. It typically involves a BBQ (cook-out). Many communities host Canada Day events and set off fireworks, and certainly my city of Toronto has always been ablaze with fireworks all over.  Toronto is a city of 5 million people.  To give you an idea of its dimensions, the whole Island of Barbados would fit into the downtown core of Toronto!  Now, that’s big.

Before I continue on with the history lesson on Canada Day, let me tell you that this year, 2009, it seems our Canada Day celebrations will be sorely lacking.  Despite an economy on the down slide, and economy that has seen thousands of people lose their jobs in the last 6 months here in Canada….we have a strike going on!  That’s right; people with real jobs and pay cheques – are striking:  for more money, more benefits!  I choke each day as I drive by the picket lines.  It’s been going on for 9 days now and this morning as I drove by, it looked more like there was a massive picnic and family reunion going on with all of the tents set up, lawn chairs, barbeques!  I digress.  The reason I mention the strike (primarily to do with garbage collection) is that it has impacted some of the city services which are part of the union.  As such, many of the outdoor facilities and functions have been shut down!  That’s right.  In an economy where thousands would die to be able to work…for anything…we are striking for more money and benefits!  So, Canada Day, this year here in Toronto just won’t be the same.  Now, back to the history lesson.

The Americans separated from British rule in 1768, and celebrate Independence Day on July 4th. I made mention of that in an earlier blog.  Canada waited 100 years and in 1868 created the “Dominion of Canada”. Independence Day celebrates the rejection of British rule and the United States becoming an autonomous country. The basis of Canada’s celebration is founded on the formation of a new country and the union of provinces.

The holiday became a statute in 1879 but was initially called Dominion Day. There are no records of early celebrations of Canada (Dominion) Day, with the exception of 1917 when it was used to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Confederation. It was also a backdrop to the dedication of the Parliament Buildings Centre Block which was being constructed. It was dedicated to the Fathers of Confederation and to Canadians fighting in the First World War.

In 1927 the celebration coincided with the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. The Governor General laid the cornerstone of the Confederation Building on Wellington Street in Ottawa (the capital of Canada) and the Carillon in the Peace Tower was inaugurated.

It has only been since the late 1950′s that we Canadians have regularly observed and celebrated Canada Day.

In 1968 we first added the multi-cultural and professional concerts to the celebrations that took place on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.  The festivities were televised and ran under the name Festival Canada until 1979.

In 1980 our government expanded the celebrations beyond the Ottawa region by sponsoring the development of festivities on a local level. In 1981 15 of our major cities offered fireworks to commemorate the day.

In 1982 that Dominion Day was officially changed to Canada Day and it’s been Canada Day for the last 27 years.  I wonder if we’ll change the name again?  Who knows.