Canadians gather to mark national birthday
A jovial crowd clad in red and white gathered under clear blue skies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to mark Canada’s 152nd birthday in the nation’s capital – one of many celebrations being held across the country.
As the afternoon sun beat down, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the assembled masses that while it’s important to celebrate the nation’s victories on Canada Day, citizens must also pledge to stay on the right track.
“Canadians have so much to be proud of this year, and I’m not just talking about the Raptors,” he said.
“...But we can’t forget that Canada did not happen by accident and won’t continue without effort and hard work. We can and we must continue to make our country even better.”
Trudeau wasn’t the only highprofile Canadian at Ottawa’s celebration. In addition to Governor General Julie Payette and a smattering of cabinet ministers, actor Ryan Reynolds watched the festivities from the VIP section on Parliament Hill.
And astronaut David SaintJacques, freshly back from a stint in space, made a surprise video appearance from a hospital in Houston, TX., where he’s recovering from the trip.
In rainy Halifax, meanwhile, the occasion was marked with a 21gun salute on Citadel Hill, sending the sound of cannon blasts echoing through the sky like thunder.
Though the weather was far from pleasant, Jihan Estrella was happy to be in Halifax for the holiday after immigrating to Canada from the Philippines just a month ago.
“Even if we don’t know anybody, we talk to people at church and they help us with what we need. I think that’s something Canada has that we’re very fortunate to have experienced,” she said.
A little farther west, Torontonians had their pick of celebrations like the annual Yonge-Dundas Multiculturalism party, which celebrated the country’s diversity with jazz bands, a “Parade of Nations” and live performances from varying multicultural groups.
Terence Hampton Junior, 21, was visiting Toronto for the first time on a family vacation from Memphis, TN, when he found the Yonge-Dundas celebration. The differences between Toronto and his hometown, he said, are palpable.
“Going around in different places and just seeing all of these people of different colours and different races and backgrounds together and just enjoying each other’s presence, that’s something that’s really important I think that Canada symbolizes well,” said Hampton Junior.
Fabiola Peoraza, 30, was also celebrating her first Canada Day in Toronto after immigrating to Canada from Mexico in 2017.
“I think it’s very easy to live here and be part of the culture and society because you have people from all around the world,” she said. “It feels like you are part of this country and you can share it.”
Though the celebrations were little less grand than they were two years ago for the country’s sesquicentennial birthday, 2019 is an anniversary year of sorts: the 140th official holiday celebrating Confederation.
For the first dozen years that Canada was a country, there were no official celebrations, thanks in part to Nova Scotia politicians who felt they had been forced into Confederation, said Matthew Hayday, a history professor at the University of Guelph.
At a parade in the East York area of Toronto, which was advertised as the city’s longest-running Canada Day celebration, children with painted faces and dressed head to toe in red and white ran up and down the roads blowing bubbles in small capes made of Canadian flags.
“It’s our heritage, it’s our history, and it represents a society that I think the world wants to be,” said Dennis Marangos, 60, a life-long East York resident who said he’s never missed a parade.