July 1st 2022 - Half-Way

I've had a number of July 1st ideas.  For example,   those whose birthdays are  between Dec 25th and Jan 1st  should celebrate their birthdays on July 1st so that they get a real birthday celebration.  And that given July 1st is half-way through the year, there should be fund-raising festivals on the theme "Christmas in July".   These are based on the days of the year, and not the ceremonial importance of this day as a celebration of nationhood. Canada's "Day" has been contentious throughout our history.    Last year things halted as the many graves at the residential school sites made clear what the colonialists did, and how long colonialist behaviours with residential schools lasted.  Last year there was a call to scale back Canada Day and to cancel Canada Day.   So here we are a year later, with a bit of progress towards resetting our views of history. In April  2022 Ryerson University  was renamed Toronto Metropolitan University.   After reading Egerton Ryerson's biography, my view is that there could be no other course of action.  His role as "father of public education" was so lauded that his other actions were ignored.  They were very significant.  He was a primary architect of the residential school system.  He was persuasive in his writings - supporting converting Indigenous people to Christianity in order to assimilate them.  He wrote that it was "a fact that they could not be civilized".   And much more.  He was prolific in his writings.  We weren't prolific in our readings, being tone deaf to what doesn't match up with a colonialist view.    So I am back to my Christmas in July idea.  Hallmark is already on it.  It starts July 16th with three new movies.  It will feature 24/7 Christmas movies throughout the Fourth of July weekend.  Here are a few of the titles: Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen Dickens of a Holiday Christmas Comes Twice The Santa Stakeout So this isn't a flag picture day.  We've soured a bit on the Canadian Flag when it got conscripted to the Convoy protest.  That is supposed to be underway again today.   So instead, we look at the Christmas scene below - it is an amazing contrast to our colourful summer scenes.

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Random Us on July 1st

Happy Canada Day! Huffington Post has an article titled "20 Random facts You Probably Didn't Know About Canada."  I declare on July 1st that these could only be random to citizens of the United States.  Here are Four:   Queen Elizabeth II is Canada’s official Head of State.  The Canadian government has declared Santa as a Canadian citizen. In fact, you can mail your letter to the North Pole in any language (including Braille), and his trusted elves will answer them all. Yes, all 1.5 million of them. Hockey and lacrosse are Canada’s national sports. There are more donut shops per capita in Canada than any other country in the world. But who’s saying that’s a bad thing? You can read the others HERE.  These four topiaries are in a garden in St. Catharines.  Three sisters and a presiding grandmother. We can't miss out on a Maple Leaf today - here it is  - this photo in Winnipeg last year by Dan Harper at danharper.com

Canada's Birthday is Canada's Anniversary

Here we are on the 149th anniversary/birthday of Canada.  What makes it an anniversary of confederation rather than the marking of the birth of Canada? The Huffington Post calls it Canada's 150th Birthday with a series of articles on the plans and activities here.  The official website is here and calls it the anniversary of Confederation.  Wikipedia is always so instructional and it lists sovereign states by date of formation (date of their independence or of their constitution).  We have such a stable country that we don't think that there are states that have disputed sovereignty or are former sovereign states or have limited recognition.  And there are proposed states as well.  I didn't even realize that there are micronations.  So here's the link for that interesting information. So enjoy our celebration day -  appreciate the security and freedom that we experience here. Show the red and white colours of our flag.