Happy Canada Day to all... and remember to support Vancouver/Whistler 2010 on Tuesday!
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Happy Birthday to some of these famous people today!
Jarome Iginla 26
Liv Tyler 26
Claire Forlani 31
Missy Elliot 32
Pamela Anderson 36
Andre Braugher 41
Princess Di
David Gulpilil 50
Dan Ackroyd 51
Blondie 58
Genevieve Bujold 61
Andrae Crouch 62
Sydney Pollock 69
Farley Granger 78
Olivia deHavilland 87
William Wyler
Charles Laughton
George Sand
In a nutshell...
Canada Day marks the unification of four British colonies on July 1, 1867. A single piece of legislation, known as the British North America (BNA) Act, joined the present-day provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia together as one nation.
The BNA Act proclaimed "one Dominion under the name of Canada," which is why the original name of our national holiday was called "Dominion Day."
Since confederation, six more provinces and three territories were joined under the Act. In 1982, the Act was amended to include the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and to augment Canada's status from a simple 'dominion' of the British realm to that of a fully autonomous nation within its own right.
The Act was then renamed the Constitution Act, and Dominion Day was renamed Canada Day.
The first Dominion/Canada Day was celebrated publicly at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 1, 1875. Canada Day is always observed on July 1, unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case it is observed the following day.
I have to admit that I've always felt like a displaced Canadian at heart. When I lived in Buffalo, Canadian money was everywhere (and, in fact, you could get away with putting Canadian quarters in parking meters - which was good because most store clerks wouldn't accept them), going across the border was as easy as driving to any suburb, and at one point I lived right on the Niagara River and could look out my window and see Canada. We'd go to Niagara Falls at least once or twice a year, but only to the Canadian side. I cut my drinking teeth on Canadian beer. If I ever needed a big city fix, I wouldn't bother going all the way to NYC; I'd go to Toronto. Niagara-on-the-lake was a must-do every Christmas, and I went to my very first concert AND my first major-league baseball game at the Skydome.
And, um, my brother and a few of my previous boyfriends were big fans of the "Canadian ballet"
Happy Canada Day!
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