Commentary
“Now Know Ye, that I, Charles Stanley Viscount Monck, Governor General of Canada, do hereby proclaim and appoint WEDNESDAY, the FIRST day of JULY next, as the day on which the Anniversary of the formation of the Dominion a Canada be duly celebrated. And I do hereby enjoin and call upon all Her Majesty’s loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the due and proper celebration of the said Anniversary on the said FIRST day of JULY next.”
So spoke our first governor general in 1868 to the citizens of the world’s newest nation, calling on them to mark the anniversary of the creation of Canada. In 1879, Parliament made July 1 an annual holiday of celebrating our Confederation, a commemoration to be called Dominion Day. For many years thereafter, July 1 was a festive day of parades, pyrotechnic spectacles, speeches, multicultural dances, visits by royalty, community picnics, and all-round jollity as Canadians (in our typical modest and understated way) made clear their pleasure in belonging to one of the most successful countries in world history….