For those of you closest to my heart, this post will come as no shock by any means, but I figured in the least it might serve as some motivation to get you amped up for this and future July 1st’s.
Here is a brief history of Canada Day courtesy of Wikipedia.org:
“Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day, is Canada's national day, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada.”
Now you got some history and if you are still interested in hearing more history… well, do the research.
Most important, Canada Day is the best day of the year based on how we celebrate and in comparison, the other federal statutory holidays of the year always seem to have some sort of drawback. Here is a list of the other Canadian National Holiday’s and why they fall short of having the goods to make the #1 spot:
New Years Eve/Day- A time to start the year off fresh, make resolutions in vain, dress up and party with friends/family. The drawback? New Years Eve is only a great party if the planning and effort are there to have a suitable venue and turn-out. The pressure to celebrate NYE as tremendous as possible has often lead to expectations not meeting outcome. Combine that notion with the fact that winter will more than likely keep the party indoors and you are left with little room for overwhelming success. When it works out, this is a great holiday for all but when it does not, New Years Day feels like a Sunday subsequent to a disappointing Friday/Saturday night.
Good Friday- Everyone loves a three-day weekend –maybe even four if you are lucky enough to have Easter Monday off- but besides the traditional family dinner, it is just another long weekend. Minus even more points if you get stuck in church.
Labour Day- Hey everyone! Summer’s over and its time to go back to work! Here’s a holiday though! …Thanks.
Thanksgiving- A day to spend time with family and give thanks by consuming more food than you probably should have. Thanks for the great food, but now I am too tired to move.
Remembrance Day- A day to remember those who have sacrificed their lives to protect our way of living. A proud day for all Canadians who will celebrate with dignity and respect.
Christmas Day- This will be Canada Day’s ultimate rival for holiday supremacy and the jury will remain out for where most of you stand on the subject. Ultimately, Christmas time is a time to celebrate the cold of winter coming to an end, the nights becoming shorter and the days longer (the winter solstice is synonymous with religious holiday worldwide). We get together with friends and family, exchange gifts and spread holiday cheer… most of the time. More often than not, I have witnessed the Christmas season as a very stressful time of year for people. The pressure of gift giving, hosting gatherings (all you moms out there know what I am talking about) ,winter-living and meeting the annual expectations of consumerism that media outlets pound into us, has an ever growing collective of people inclined to head for warmer climates saying, “no thanks”. Christmas is a great time of year to get together and have a great time, but it falls short and takes the #2 spot.
So here we are, only one more day left to discuss and the anticipation to deliver on the notion as to why Canada Day trumps the rest of this country’s holidays. Essentially, Canada Day is awesome because of its lack of expectations, welcoming celebrations, vitamin D rich weather and the simple motivation to celebrate the birth of one of the world’s greatest countries. Canada Day epitomizes everything magnificent about being Canadian: our inclusiveness towards others, love for our nation and love to party. No matter where you are in the second largest country in the world, people are celebrating this day and want you to join in the festivities (beware if you are not dressed in your red and white attire, you will have no choice but to don the leftovers of the Canadian trinkets bought that morning at the dollar store). The point is, Canada Day is a happy day to celebrate all things Canadian and we want everyone to join in with the rest of us! It does not matter how you celebrate, just being outside with a cold beer will make the majority of Canadians grin from ear to ear. Others, however, will do less or much more (as in my case every year) and all is deemed more than acceptable. In the end, it is hard to find any drawbacks for Canada Day and even harder to find any accompanying stressors.
In conclusion, I consider Canada Day to be my favourite day of the year (if you haven’t guessed that already); better than all the other holidays and even my own birthday. Canada Day is too easy to love and too hard to hate. With that being said I wish all of you the best July 1st and know that it will be hard for you to be disappointed even with minimal effort. If you are like me and go 110% for this holiday, well then I don’t need to tell you to have a great day, you get excited just saying the day’s name. Be safe, have fun and enjoy each others company!
With “Old Beauty” over one shoulder, Canadian in hand and wishing the best for all his fellow True, North, Strong and Free…
HAPPY CANADA DAY YOU BEAUTIES!!!
Matias M. Barchman
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