mercredi 1 juillet 2009

Canada Day

142 years ago the B.N.A. Act gave the Canadians what they, or at least their leaders of the time, wished for i.e. representative government and a federation of their four existing, now, provinces: Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island would join later, as would, in 1949, Newfoundland and Labrador. The new federal goverment was given authority over the remaining territories right up to thr Rockies. British Columbia promised to join...if linked to the ROC by a railway. Thus the Canadian Pacific Railway was born, in the process, Manitoba came to be, followed by Sakatchewan and Alberta carved out of the territories given the Hudson Bay Company by George III of England in 1670 although it did not at that time formally belong to Britain and was claimed by France.
What remained eventually became the Yukon, The Nortwest Territory and Nunavut, not full provinces but largely self administered territories. New First nations territories and administrations are slowly coming into their own under various forms: Nunavut is one of them, the Nunavik regional authority in Québec's former Ungava is another one as is the Nisga'a Treaty in B.C.
Thus Canada Day is a celebration of a work in progress and of diversity of cultures, folklores and traditions. Such is the quilt work that we call our country. That is the country I love and I would not, warts and all, have it any other way.

10 commentaires:

  1. Great. A History lesson for us to understand how Canada came to be. You know that there is much we could share about what works, what needs to work, what issues are bandied about. This is a great service that bloggers can provide.

    Do you celebrate an independence day as well?

    RépondreSupprimer
  2. No Rosaria. There is Canada Day, July 1st, first Monday of August is Civic Holiday in most provinces except Québec where "la Fête nationale" is celebrated on June 24th also known as la St-Jean-Baptiste still celebrated in many francophone communities outside Québec since Pope Pius X declared that saint as the Patron saint of French-Canadians. St-Boniface, now part of Winnipeg, in Manitoba has a very strong tradition about it. In the Maritimes and elswhere in Canada, and even in the USA, where there are Acadian communities August 15th, The feast of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary is considered their national Holiday. Other national communities have their own celebrations in Canada such as the French, July 14th, and of course our American immigrants on July 4th.

    RépondreSupprimer
  3. And before the Irish run me out of the country with shillilagh I forgot to mention St-Patrick's Day, March 17th. Montreal has the oldest St-Patrick's Day parade in North America. It has been held for the last 187 years.

    RépondreSupprimer
  4. As a matter of fact each of our ethnic communities from every continents celebrate their national day, so there are many celebrations going on all year round. We are a very festive country. That is what we call muticulturalism and respecting differences.

    RépondreSupprimer
  5. I didn't know you were blogging! Thought you were just commenting. Blog away.

    RépondreSupprimer
  6. I have been for about a month now. I enjoy it.
    Welcome Commentator.

    RépondreSupprimer
  7. "This is the country I love and I would not, warts and all, have it any other way."

    I see more warts in my country than I see in yours (consider only our PM being a media mogul or the influence of Mafia in some regions.) I think they way it all started reinforces decentralization and democracy, which is good.

    Italy instead was born from centralization. The northern regions colonised the rest, so millions of southerners had to migrate to the New World.

    RépondreSupprimer
  8. PS
    What I mean is that a federation from the start - we started in 1870, more or less - like the one you had, would have been a perfect solution for us.

    And it seems nice also the First Nations have a place in all this. They deserve it, after all.

    RépondreSupprimer
  9. @MoR: the First Nations are slowly coming into their own. It is a slow process and still resisted by many whites, and others, who feel threatened by it. Of course giving back rights to natural resources and lands to the First Nations implies a change of status for the non-first nations residents of those lands or the company exploiting the natural resources.
    So it is a negotiating process that is painfull and long, some have been going on for more than 30 years, some have lead to land occupations or road blockades. At least 2 people have died in the events surrounding these, an Ojibway, killed by police fire at Ipperwash park in Ontario and a policeman killed by, presumably Mohawk fire, at Oka in Québec in 1990. As you see it is moving but there are bumps on the road.

    RépondreSupprimer
  10. But it is nonetheless moving, which counts most.

    RépondreSupprimer