Canada Day

[Argus]

It is gratifying to find some of these- I had thought- long lost sentiments still around. Maybe there is hope for us yet!

Until you read Argus' posts: the grinch out to steal the celebration of Canada.

Canada Day is as much a celebration of Canada as Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birth.

Ninety five percent of it is hype aimed at people too dull-witted to have much idea about what lies beneath.

[Kindred]

I dont know if I dare post this without setting off a storm - but one of the best Canada Days I had was in China!

Our friends there, (Chinese) threw a party for Canada Day, they worked in a hotel we frequented, went out and bought a huge Canadian Flag, that was hung over the entrance to the garden, found some John Denver CDs which was the best they could do - and some "western music".

Had a barbecue Chinese style in the garden behind the hotel - with uniformed chefs, white chef hats, etc lined up in front of four barbecues - It was a blast ! Barbecue steaks, salmon, duck ...

There were people from Portugal, Italy, the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, all over and of course China - everyone kept saying "Happy Canada Day!" We ate, we drank, we talked to people from all over the world - and had the most amazing time!

Even the hotel manager came out and "celebrated" - it was wonderful to see how the Chinese view Canada and how happy they are to be part of a "Canada Day" celebration - they love Canadians and think we are wonderful, and kind ...... the "good guys". It was a Canada Day I will never forget ....

[Kindred]

How sad, so much anger on our Nation's holiday. Well, at least I'm not afraid to say "I love Canada."

Holidays commemorating (sp?)a country's history should by definition help to form a cohesive patriotism. The future of our country depends on how strong we feel about ourselves and our position in the world. Aparthy will only serve to give the US the opportunity to eventually take over Canada.

There's a lot I dont like about the way things are done in Canada, but I am not willing to hand the country over to the US.

[Argus]

How sad, so much anger on our Nation's holiday. Well, at least I'm not afraid to say "I love Canada."

Holidays commemorating (sp?)a country's history should by definition help to form a cohesive patriotism. The future of our country depends on how strong we feel about ourselves and our position in the world. Aparthy will only serve to give the US the opportunity to eventually take over Canada.

There's a lot I dont like about the way things are done in Canada, but I am not willing to hand the country over to the US.

How would celebrating the 4th of July be any different from celebrating the 1st of July?

[Canuck E Stan]

Argie,

You should lighten up a bit,we got it good here and should be happy about Canada's birthday. For the kids, it's like a big birthday party. And like a kid some of us like an excuse to party.

I will have say that the immigrants of yesterday did seem to appreciate Canada a lot more than the ones of today.

At least it appears to be that way.

[rover1]

Well, there is nothing wrong with a good celebration, but I think that Argus makes some good points. Much of the 'style' of what is recommended seems to me American in nature. Canadians have not done it this way, and I for one appreciate a quieter expression of love for one's country. It has always seemed to me that typical American patriotic exercises were loud, immodest, and often did not reflect the facts.

[Argus]

Argie,

You should lighten up a bit,we got it good here and should be happy about Canada's birthday. For the kids, it's like a big birthday party. And like a kid some of us like an excuse to party.

I will have say that the immigrants of yesterday did seem to appreciate Canada a lot more than the ones of today.

At least it appears to be that way.

Here's the thing. The article kind of brought into focus some of the things which have popped up from time to time here regarding the supposed lack of culture, lack of identify for English Canada. English Canada's identify was bound up - like French Canada's - in its origins and traditions. But while we have spent the last forty years venerating and protecting French Canada's traditions and culture, we have, at the same time, been deliberately destroying all the ties English Canadians have with their past, eliminating our institutions, erasing our traditions, even mocking and delegitimizing much of our history due to its lack of political correctness. There are a couple of quotes in the story I'd like to reprint since I realize most people would not have bothered to read it.

A wise nation preserves its records, gathers up its monuments, decorates the

tombs of its illustrious dead, repairs great public structures, and fosters

national pride and love of country, by perpetual reference to the sacrifices

and glories of the past.

-- Joseph Howe, Father of Confederation.

What, if any of this, have we done for English Canada? How many people even know any of the fathers of confederation, not counting Macdonald? How many know anything about our history? Our triumphs? The sacrifices of men of the past? The only thing you can count on from the CBC, is that if it chooses to focus its eye on any aspect of English Canada's past it will do so as negatively as possible. When has the CBC ever done a movie on some great aspect of Canada's military past, for example? It did one on Dieppe - which was a disastrous failure in which they could point out how horrible the British were to us. It did one on a mutiny among a military unit at the end of WW2. It did one on Billy Bishop in which suggested he wasn't much of a hero and didn't really shoot down the Red Baron. You getting the picture? Where is John A Macdonald's grave? We sure know where Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson are buried. They're national monuments. What national monument do we have aside from the national war memorial which lies unatended most of the year so that skateboarding teenagers roll up and down across the tomb of the unknown soldier.

For this reason: For millions of still-living Canadians the loss of the word

"Dominion" was, as Quebec senator Hartland Molson said during the Senate

debate on Bill C-201, "another very small step in the process, which has

continued over the last few years, of downgrading tradition and obscuring

our heritage."

He was right. "Dominion" was a symbol that once helped provide

English-speaking Canadians with a sense of identity. Symbols are metaphors

of meaning, compact artifacts that encapsulate our attachments to things

beyond ourselves. Symbols -- flags, monuments, and, yes, public holidays --

resonate with a transcendent significance. To be stripped of a symbol system

is to be told, in effect, that the traditions and customs that give

substance to your life are without value.

Admittedly, replacing "Dominion" with "Canada" might seem a minor matter,

nothing worth serious concern. And that might have been true, if it had been

an isolated case. But the holiday name change was only one item in a long

project of cultural engineering on the part of Canada's progressivist elites

to replace those symbols that provided English-speaking Canada with its

always-tenuous sense of collective identity.

So of course, Dominion Day was merely one among many, including the flag, including the anthem, including the fading away of royal coats of arms and instititions, including traditions, especially military traditions. Amalgamating the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Canadian Army into one, blandly named "Canadian Armed Forces" could almost have been purposefully designed to help destroy any sense of historical ties between Canadians and their military history. And, of course, that it got rid of the hated word "royal" was certainly part of the reason for the poorly designed amalgamation. Political traditions were destroyed as well, of course. When was the last time you heard anyone refer to "The Ministry of National Defence" or "The Ministry of Agriculture". They're called "departments" now, even if no one has yet managed to come up with an acceptable alternative title for those who run them.

The effort was largely for naught. The suppression of "dominion," like other

supposedly troublesome symbols, was done in the name of national unity, out

of a perceived need to avoid alienating francophones. Pierre Trudeau

admitted as much when he wrote: "If French Canadians abandon their concept

of a national state, English Canada must do the same." In other words,

English-speaking Canada was supposed to strip itself of its self-defining

symbols to undermine Quebec's separatist sentiment.

And all this has been part of deliberate government policy to appease Quebecers by presuming that if we were somehow less English, they would somehow dislike us less. Which, of course, hasn't worked anyway. We've let them destroy much of our traditions and heritage, the stuff that binds us as people, for nothing.

On reflection, this should surprise no one. A nation's self-understanding

depends on the sense of identity shared by citizens. As scholar Benedict

Anderson points out, the citizen of even the smallest state never knows or

meets more than a few fellow citizens. Yet his consciousness contains

images -- flags, monuments, ceremonies, etc. -- that express his communion

with those unknown others. In this sense, says Anderson, a nation is an

"imagined community," an invented response to circumstances of history,

geography, culture and demography. Out of this shared experience comes a

collective self-perception that forms a citizen's "nation-ness."

[newbie]

Argie,

You should lighten up a bit,we got it good here and should be happy about Canada's birthday. For the kids, it's like a big birthday party. And like a kid some of us like an excuse to party....

Right on. And for those that didn't partake, I hope they had on very large flag lapels and said "God Bless Canada" a lot.

[KrustyKidd]

What, if any of this, have we done for English Canada? How many people even know any of the fathers of confederation, not counting Macdonald? How many know anything about our history? Our triumphs? The sacrifices of men of the past? The only thing you can count on from the CBC, is that if it chooses to focus its eye on any aspect of English Canada's past it will do so as negatively as possible. When has the CBC ever done a movie on some great aspect of Canada's military past, for example?

Whatever, I got laid, drunk and relaxed. You sat there brewing on separation issues and the anal CBC crap. We have 364 days left to go over that and, I plan on adressing each issue ten times every one of those days.

Happy Canada Day!

[stamps]

I was just wondering what the significance of Canada Day was..... did we beat someone in a war or something..... what is the significance of July first..... just curious.....

[Kindred]

I have been thinking about this - I think a problem is that many of you have never traveled or taken part in celebrations or been exposed to via the media, of any celebrations other than those in the US.

So you assume celebrating Canada Day is an American thing to do because they celebrate Independence Day of July 4th. It has nothing to do with the US.

Fireworks werent invented by the US nor were flags - they are an international "tool" of celebration.

In Norway its May17th and there are parades and celebrations, in China its October 1st , and they REALLY celebrate the day, in Italy its June2nd, and again there is a big celebration, and France .. etc etc

Almost all with parades, fireworks, community events etc.

It is NOT American to celebrate a National Day holiday. Take a look at the rest of the world and see how things are done and then realize Canadians are only celebrating Canada Day - not "being American" in doing so .........

Do we need symbols to know who we are?

I remember one Canada Day I went camping with my sister and some friends on Vancouver Island, when a vehicle pulled in to "our" beach, we asked if they were Canadian and then told them the beach had been "reserved" for Canadians in honour of Canada Day and sent the Americans on their way. Eventually we had dozens of Canadians from all across Canada, a big bonfire, a party, a few had guitars and we had a great Canada Day celebration.

Its what you make of of it --- it always is.

[kilkee]

Time to Change Canada

By

James Bredin

Ontario has Liberal politicians, who lie,

And lie about their lies and refuse to say good bye,

No term limits and they cannot be recalled,

Because binding referendums have never been installed.

So we need to change the constitution and soon,

We need referendums and recall now – not next June,

We need a Charter for Canadians with property rights,

We need democracy – not refugees on incoming flights.

They want us locked into their United Nations,

Knee deep in Kyoto like a group of mental patients,

Obedient to their ideas and global taxation,

Propaganda and high taxes they say is our salvation.

We have to think as an international socialist might,

Because thinking Canadian might not be so right,

They have their hidden agenda and we have to obey,

They want no changes and their agenda has to stay.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006