On this day 136 years ago the British North America Act was passed in London, which brought into being a federation of four provinces to make up the Dominion of Canada. Until 1982 this day was known as Dominion Day, but since then it has been known by the somewhat pedestrian name of Canada Day.
As a fairly new Canadian it strikes me that those born here have the unfortunate habit of apologizing for everything that is distinctively Canadian. From misguided efforts to tone down the oath of allegiance to the Queen – ostensibly for the benefit of people like myself with republican origins – to the near mania to live down the foibles of our admittedly fallible forebears, we risk losing our sense of rootedness in a living political tradition. We overestimate the wisdom of the present generation and no longer hear the voices of our parents and grandparents; thus we will likely have nothing to say to future generations either.
I would not wish to see Canadians develop an unhealthy jingoism rooted in national hubris. But I would love to see my fellow citizens possess some pride in our nation’s political institutions, in its tradition of peaceful constitutional development, and in its European-rooted cultural traditions. Remarkably, it is mostly newer Canadians, particularly those from outside the west, who seem to value these blessings the most.
Here is an informative website devoted to the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, containing among other things the biographies of the fathers of Confederation. Such websites may help to encourage an interest in our own history, particularly among the young.
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