Happy Canada Day...

God bless Am . . . i mean . . . Canada
Land that i kinda like
Stand beside her
And guide her
Through the snow
With a light from below . . .

Have a happy holiday, O Northern Neighbors!
(and yes, you do too say "aboot")

That was the worst revision of God Bless America that I have ever heard. Standup, I add my "happy" to this list.

ehyup

Happy Holiday to all. Last time I was in New Brunswick for Canada Day with the relatives from up north we had a pig roast.,... good times.

I say the same, only it's more like "aboat".

Happy Canada day! :-D

well i had to work, but it was a good day all the same

Do you Canajuns always celebrate C-Day on July 1? You never move it to make a long weekend?

I hope that everyone enjoyed Canada Day. When was it first celebrated?

George, Canada Day is Canada Day, July 1. Never adjusted to make a long weekend. I kinda like that.

Not sure when the celebrations started, but a website I posted elsewhere said it was the 137th anniversary of Canada Day. I think they really meant it was the 137th anniversary of Confederation, which is what we celebrate on Canada Day.

I re-affirmed my citizenship yesterday, as part of the day. It felt good.

The fact that it is always on one date, rather than skipping around the place like Easter, gives it certainty, which is surely good.

Where do you reaffirm your citizenship? Do you do it annually?

I'm just curious, where were you originally from? That is if you don't mind me asking.

For drom:

"On June 20, 1868, a proclamation signed by the Governor General, Lord Monck, called upon all Her Majesty's loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada on July 1st.

The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day.

There is no record of organized ceremonies after this first anniversary, except for the 50th anniversary of Confederation in 1917, at which time the new Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, under construction, was dedicated as a memorial to the Fathers of Confederation and to the valour of Canadians fighting in the First World War in Europe.

The next celebration was held in 1927 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. It was highlighted by the laying of the cornerstone by the Governor General of the Confederation Building on Wellington Street and the inauguration of the Carillon in the Peace Tower.

Since 1958, the government has arranged for an annual observance of Canada's national day with the Secretary of State of Canada in charge of the coordination. The format provided for a Trooping the Colours ceremony on the lawn of Parliament Hill in the afternoon, a sunset ceremony in the evening followed by a mass band concert and fireworks display.

Another highlight was Canada's Centennial in 1967 when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II attended the celebrations with Parliament Hill again being the backdrop for a large scale official ceremony.

The format changed in 1968 with the addition of multicultural and professional concerts held on Parliament Hill including a nationally televised show. Up until 1975, the focus of the celebrations, under the name "Festival Canada", was held in the National Capital Region during the whole month of July and involved numerous cultural, artistic and sport activities, as well as municipalities and voluntary organizations. The celebration was cancelled in 1976 but was reactivated in 1977.

A new formula was developed in 1980 whereby the National Committee (the federal government organization charged with planning Canada's Birthday celebrations) stressed and sponsored the development of local celebrations all across Canada.

"Seed money" was distributed to promote popular and amateur activities organized by volunteer groups in hundreds of local communities. The same approach was also followed for the 1981 celebrations with the addition of fireworks displays in 15 major cities across the nation.

On October 27, 1982, July 1st which was known as "Dominion Day" became "Canada Day".

Since 1985, Canada Day Committees are established in each province and territory to plan, organize and coordinate the Canada Day celebrations locally. Grants are provided by the Department to those committees."

(source: CNEWS)

stand up for pessimism, I was born in Canada.

The re-affirmation ceremony is offered to any citizen who wishes to participate after the affirmation ceremony for new citizens. It's been part of the East York Canada Event for about 10 years. It was really quite moving, with speakers from the aboriginal community, the various levels of government and representatives from the local council on race relations.

There were probably about 150 - 200 of us participating in the re-affirmation. A fairly even split between people who appeared to be more recent immigrants, and those who seemed to have been born in Canada (I'm basing that on the accents of some of the people I spoke to at the ceremony).

The East York event has been happening since either 1955 or 1957 (the older members of the organizing committee are trying to figure out if the 50th anniversary of the event will be next year or in 3 years). It's the biggest celebration outside of Ottawa, and the parade is the longest continuously running one in Canada.

After amalgamation, there was an effort to disband the East York event, but the community was having no part of it. East York is a great little subset of Toronto.

Ohh, I hadn't been aware of any of that. Very interesting, thanks ehbeth!

Due, in part, to our enthusiasm in dressing for the event, a young fella from the local paper asked to take a photo of my friend and me. If it gets published, I'll post it. I imagine we were a scary vision.

Hey thanks for the Dominion Day note cav. i posted in the other Canada thread about finding a copper plaque in the mud flats up near Parrsboro. we got stranded in the low tide and had to park the boat in the only remaining channel , I was able to row the zodiac less than 50 feet to the flats which ran on for hu ndreds of miles and were easily 5 miles wide. I was clamming and ran into this plaque. It must have come from a boats pilot house and it said
'Confederation"
"Canada-Our Country" and it had the New Brunswick Dragon and the rampant horse of England. It also has a date of 1927. The boat on which it was attached was nowhere near, although there was what appeared to be a keel about a mile away. I still have it and have only cleaned it a bit. I didnt remove any patina.