Happy Canada Day.
As we celebrate our nation’s 147th birthday, perhaps we should take the time to think about how we got to where we are today and where we are headed in the future.
Canada doesn’t have the same dramatic history as our neighbours to the south do. We didn’t gain our independence through violent conflict, nor did we fight a civil war, at least not on the same scale.
By and large, Canada’s history is of peaceful co-existence of several ethnic groups.
Or at least that’s what our cultural zeitgeist is.
In truth, Canada is not as serene and innocent as we like to believe.
There are skeletons in our closet.
Skeletons like how the Chinese were treated in the construction of the National Dream, or the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s.
Or how about the residential school system, which systematically tried to destroy the Native culture.
And then there’s our shoddy treatment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
Domestic terrorism like the FLQ Crisis in 1970, or the bombing of Air India flight 182 in 1985.
Although they occurred prior to Confederation, there were the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in 1837 and 1838.
And we can’t forget the Red River Rebellion in 1869-1870, which led in 1885 to the North-West Rebellion and Canada’s most famous execution — that of Louis Riel.
Oddly enough, the North-West Rebellion did have a silver lining — it galvanized support for the CPR, which got troops to Saskatchewan in days, compared to the months it took for troops to get to the Red River Settlement 15 years prior.
While it may seem strange to harp on Canada’s less-seemly history on this day we mark its 147th year as a nation, it’s crucial to remember the past.
All these events, and many others, are part of the fabric of Canada. Without them, who knows what we would be today.
We have made mistakes as a country. We have let divisions between groups turn violent and lead to bloodshed.
So remember that when you’re sitting on a dock or a patio. This country isn’t as boring as we’re led to believe.
