Happy Birthday Canada!
We love you but can't remember much about you...
It seems Canadians are increasingly becoming ignorant of our history (Canadian’s self-knowledge dismal, poll shows) and we’ve been called “civic slackers” by the executive director of the Dominion Institute, which commissioned the poll and is pressing Canada’s citizens and government to take some remedial action. A surprising number of those polled couldn’t name our current prime minister, give the first two lines to our national anthem or name the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as the part of the Constitution that protects the rights and freedoms of Canadians and didn’t know what provinces initially joined confederation in 1867, among other facts that should come easily to Canadian citizens. I agree with the recommendation to make taking a Canadian history course mandatory in high schools across the nation (astoundingly only three provinces require this), or at the very least, make passing a citizenship test mandatory for high school graduation.
So, educate yourself.
Visit the government of Canada’s website for links to all things Canadian, from a Canadian perspective. You could visit the government of Canada’s heritage website and learn such things as how to properly fly our flag, when our flag was first flown what provinces initially joined confederation in 1867 and when the other provinces and territories did so and when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed.
You could browse the CBC’s Canada day website for more links to all things Canadian and special festivities happening today. See the Canada Day live coverage from Parliament Hill, for example.
As for me and The Man, we’re celebrating with homemade pancakes (and yes, maple syrup) and some exploratory cycling around our new hometown.
Happy Canada Day!
So, educate yourself.
Visit the government of Canada’s website for links to all things Canadian, from a Canadian perspective. You could visit the government of Canada’s heritage website and learn such things as how to properly fly our flag, when our flag was first flown what provinces initially joined confederation in 1867 and when the other provinces and territories did so and when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed.
You could browse the CBC’s Canada day website for more links to all things Canadian and special festivities happening today. See the Canada Day live coverage from Parliament Hill, for example.
As for me and The Man, we’re celebrating with homemade pancakes (and yes, maple syrup) and some exploratory cycling around our new hometown.
Happy Canada Day!
2 comments:
I have to say that I agree with you...I know more about the US than I do about my own country. The joys of living in a border town. I often wonder about our history and so I hope to soon browse some of those links so that I can also become more informed on our this great country came to be!
I sometimes felt that the city on the otherside of my (hometown) bordertown was more familiar than the rest of my country. It makes sense though, when most television channels we received were American and the other bordertown's news featured more prominently than our own. (I remember a gym I belonged to always showed the American news and not our own local station, which I found annoying, even as I watched.)
Something so everyday as which scale to use for ambient temperature also easily identified bordertown residents. It wasn't until I moved away that I started using Celsius (and not Fahrenheit)in times other than winter.
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