Each year, the friendly neighbor to the north honors its own origin tale three days before the United States of America lights up the skies with spectacular fireworks displays as part of the country's Independence Day celebrations.
Yes, we are speaking about Canada Day.
Similar to how Americans celebrate Independence Day, many Canadians observe this yearly holiday on July 1.
We dress in Canadiana and proudly fly that beautiful red maple leaf. There are those who paint their faces. Whether you're in Vancouver, Toronto, or Charlottetown, the festivities include festivals and fireworks, as well as local cuisine like pancake breakfasts and barbecues.
You may wonder, what about jet jets. On the big day, our renowned Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerobatics air display squadron will be present in our country's capital.
Although there are numerous parallels between the two celebrations, Guelph University's professor of history, Matthew Hayday, tells CNN that Canadians don't celebrate Canada Day with the same fervor that Americans do on Independence Day.
According to him, most other communities celebrate on a much smaller scale. Some host picnics, barbecues, and fireworks, but nothing akin to the numerous parades that are common in the US. "There is a huge celebration in the national capital in Ottawa, which brings tens of thousands of people to Parliament Hill—those celebrations date back to the late 1950s," he says.
The history of Canada Day
You must go back in order to comprehend and contrast the two completely. long ago.
In honor of the Declaration of Independence's adoption on July 4, 1776, US Congress declared Independence Day a national holiday in 1870. (The British retaliated by denouncing the "misguided Americans" and "their extravagant and inadmissible Claim of Independency.")
In the meanwhile, Dominion Day, the July 1 holiday honoring Canada's Confederation, was first observed in 1879 and became official. It commemorates the day the British North America Act went into force in 1867, thus dividing the United Province of Canada (now the provinces of Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into the Dominion of Canada.
As stated in an email, "Confederation was an administrative change, not a revolution," according to curator Forrest Pass of Canada's Library and Archives.
The best way to put it was in an editorial published on July 4, 1875, by the editor of the Toronto Globe, which was the forerunner of the Globe and Mail today. He noted that the British North America Act "has none of the traditional associations of the Declaration of Independence, and is, to most people, only a piece of very dry, practical legislation."
He points out that even the decision to hold Confederation on July 1 was essentially administrative, given that the British parliament typically convened in the early spring and that the laws it approved often took effect on July 1 for accounting purposes.
Yet according to Pass, the American model had a major influence on the decision to observe Dominion Day. While some localities with sizable American populations also organized 4th of July celebrations, residents of Canadian border towns traveled to neighboring American cities to participate in their festivals.
According to him, "Canadians had observed their own holidays prior to Confederation, particularly the King or Queen's birthday, but even these celebrations had evolved into customs that closely resembled Independence Day."
According to Pass, for example, no 19th-century American Independence Day celebration was complete without a "National Salute," consisting of one gun for each state that was a part of the Union at the time, and a "Federal Salute," consisting of 13 guns for the original 13 states. A "Dominion Salute" including one gun for each province was a part of several early Dominion Day festivities.
"Early Dominion Day celebrations were spontaneous, much like early Fourth of July celebrations; they were organized locally with little encouragement from the federal government," he says, adding that although some standardization was encouraged by Ottawa, the federal government only became interested in how the holiday was observed in the 1950s.
Meanwhile, he claims that politicians and the media did a good job of reminding Canadians of the constitutional distinction.
In addition, certain Canadian newspapers in the 1870s had a sick delight in repeating accounts of fatalities and injuries that occurred during American Fourth of July festivities in order to highlight how calm and well-organized Dominion Day celebrations were.
Dominion Day did not formally become Canada Day until 1982.
According to historian Hayday, there have been several, since the 1940s, initiatives, both real and insincere, to change the name. Ultimately, the transition proved to be quite contentious.
"There are still some Canadians who feel that the term 'Dominion' was dropped from the day, and they perceive this as a step away from Canada's British heritage," he explains.
However, the great majority of Canadians now acknowledge the 44-year-old name as "new."
Pass, on the other hand, claims that the name switch was an effect rather than a cause.
"Regarding the new national flag in 1965, the official adoption of 'O Canada' as the national anthem in 1980, and the establishment of the Order of Canada as the nation's highest civilian honor, these developments, including the name change, have been part of a broader national identity and national unity policy," he says.
"Today's celebrations usually focus on Canada as a bilingual and multicultural nation rather than a white, British one, in line with both Canadians' changing beliefs and governmental policy (though it's frequently difficult to determine which is the cause and which the result)."
Thus, as the country commemorates its 157th birthday this year, what should tourists in Ottawa expect?
The official Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa will be held on and around Parliament Hill and LeBreton Flats Park. At 1 p.m., the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), which is celebrating its centennial this year, will commemorate the event with the biggest flypast over the National Capital Region in 20 years.
Fireworks will follow a series of live musical performances on the main stage from 8 to 10 p.m. Go to the official Canada Day website for further details on the celebration.
Read Also : What is the US men's soccer team called?
Mercado Wolski
Each year, the friendly neighbor to the north honors its own origin tale three days before the United States of America lights up the skies with spectacular fireworks displays as part of the country's Independence Day celebrations.
Yes, we are speaking about Canada Day.
Similar to how Americans celebrate Independence Day, many Canadians observe this yearly holiday on July 1.
We dress in Canadiana and proudly fly that beautiful red maple leaf. There are those who paint their faces. Whether you're in Vancouver, Toronto, or Charlottetown, the festivities include festivals and fireworks, as well as local cuisine like pancake breakfasts and barbecues.
You may wonder, what about jet jets. On the big day, our renowned Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerobatics air display squadron will be present in our country's capital.
Although there are numerous parallels between the two celebrations, Guelph University's professor of history, Matthew Hayday, tells CNN that Canadians don't celebrate Canada Day with the same fervor that Americans do on Independence Day.
According to him, most other communities celebrate on a much smaller scale. Some host picnics, barbecues, and fireworks, but nothing akin to the numerous parades that are common in the US. "There is a huge celebration in the national capital in Ottawa, which brings tens of thousands of people to Parliament Hill—those celebrations date back to the late 1950s," he says.
The history of Canada Day
You must go back in order to comprehend and contrast the two completely. long ago.
In honor of the Declaration of Independence's adoption on July 4, 1776, US Congress declared Independence Day a national holiday in 1870. (The British retaliated by denouncing the "misguided Americans" and "their extravagant and inadmissible Claim of Independency.")
In the meanwhile, Dominion Day, the July 1 holiday honoring Canada's Confederation, was first observed in 1879 and became official. It commemorates the day the British North America Act went into force in 1867, thus dividing the United Province of Canada (now the provinces of Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into the Dominion of Canada.
As stated in an email, "Confederation was an administrative change, not a revolution," according to curator Forrest Pass of Canada's Library and Archives.
The best way to put it was in an editorial published on July 4, 1875, by the editor of the Toronto Globe, which was the forerunner of the Globe and Mail today. He noted that the British North America Act "has none of the traditional associations of the Declaration of Independence, and is, to most people, only a piece of very dry, practical legislation."
He points out that even the decision to hold Confederation on July 1 was essentially administrative, given that the British parliament typically convened in the early spring and that the laws it approved often took effect on July 1 for accounting purposes.
Yet according to Pass, the American model had a major influence on the decision to observe Dominion Day. While some localities with sizable American populations also organized 4th of July celebrations, residents of Canadian border towns traveled to neighboring American cities to participate in their festivals.
According to him, "Canadians had observed their own holidays prior to Confederation, particularly the King or Queen's birthday, but even these celebrations had evolved into customs that closely resembled Independence Day."
According to Pass, for example, no 19th-century American Independence Day celebration was complete without a "National Salute," consisting of one gun for each state that was a part of the Union at the time, and a "Federal Salute," consisting of 13 guns for the original 13 states. A "Dominion Salute" including one gun for each province was a part of several early Dominion Day festivities.
"Early Dominion Day celebrations were spontaneous, much like early Fourth of July celebrations; they were organized locally with little encouragement from the federal government," he says, adding that although some standardization was encouraged by Ottawa, the federal government only became interested in how the holiday was observed in the 1950s.
Meanwhile, he claims that politicians and the media did a good job of reminding Canadians of the constitutional distinction.
In addition, certain Canadian newspapers in the 1870s had a sick delight in repeating accounts of fatalities and injuries that occurred during American Fourth of July festivities in order to highlight how calm and well-organized Dominion Day celebrations were.
Dominion Day did not formally become Canada Day until 1982.
According to historian Hayday, there have been several, since the 1940s, initiatives, both real and insincere, to change the name. Ultimately, the transition proved to be quite contentious.
"There are still some Canadians who feel that the term 'Dominion' was dropped from the day, and they perceive this as a step away from Canada's British heritage," he explains.
However, the great majority of Canadians now acknowledge the 44-year-old name as "new."
Pass, on the other hand, claims that the name switch was an effect rather than a cause.
"Regarding the new national flag in 1965, the official adoption of 'O Canada' as the national anthem in 1980, and the establishment of the Order of Canada as the nation's highest civilian honor, these developments, including the name change, have been part of a broader national identity and national unity policy," he says.
"Today's celebrations usually focus on Canada as a bilingual and multicultural nation rather than a white, British one, in line with both Canadians' changing beliefs and governmental policy (though it's frequently difficult to determine which is the cause and which the result)."
Thus, as the country commemorates its 157th birthday this year, what should tourists in Ottawa expect?
The official Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa will be held on and around Parliament Hill and LeBreton Flats Park. At 1 p.m., the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), which is celebrating its centennial this year, will commemorate the event with the biggest flypast over the National Capital Region in 20 years.
Fireworks will follow a series of live musical performances on the main stage from 8 to 10 p.m. Go to the official Canada Day website for further details on the celebration.
Read Also : What is the US men's soccer team called?