Cape Breton youth ready to celebrate
‘My Canadian role models help me celebrate Canada’
Canadians, including the country’s youth, are ready to celebrate and talk about the Canada 150 milestone.
Grade 5 student Jamie Colbert goes to Robin Foote Elementary in Westmount and is teeming with excitement about this coming Canada Day. She knows the significance of this day and cannot wait to celebrate it with a trip to Petersfield and a barbecue.
Madison Parsons, a Grade 8 student at Malcolm Munroe Middle School is equally excited.
“We have a pool party with a whole bunch of family and friends; it’s a really fun day.” Parsons said.
While the younger Canadian youth are excited about the festivities, Annette MacLellan, a Grade 11 student at Riverview High School, is celebrating how far we’ve come.
“I think what makes the 150 so interesting is that we have come so far, but we have so much further to go.” MacLellan said.
However, MacLellan is still very excited for the celebrations with her friends and family on the nation’s July 1 birthday.
“Margaret Atwood, Louis Riel, and Tommy Douglas are some of the most influential Canadians, in my opinion.” she said, “For people like Louis Riel and Agnes Macphail who are put in situations of adversity, they had to go against people who didn’t believe in what they believed in to make the country that they wanted to make.”
Canada’s 150th birthday is a time for remembering, celebrating, empowering and thanking, and the many festivities that are happening on Canada Day are an appropriate way to do these things.
The free 2017 Discovery Pass is also a great way to enjoy national marine conservation areas or historic sites. “I’m excited about the free park passes,” MacLellan said, “especially because it gives a lot of people access to something that they may previously not have had access to.”
Youth are often underestimated in a large country like Canada, but the younger generation is just as excited and informed about Canada and it’s milestone as the older generations who have taught them.
MacLellan knows that the future is bright, but you can never be satisfied. She says that as youth in Canada, you have to keep fighting for what’s right, which is exactly what her role models have taught her.
“My Canadian role models help me celebrate Canada by inspiring me to create change and support change.” MacLellan said, “I think that all young people have the power to change the future.”