Happy 150th Anniversary Canada!
I love Canada because we are free to:
- say what we want to say
- be who we want to be
- believe or not believe in God or another deity without persecution and,
- we have a great educational and health care system
Furthermore, we are one of the last nations in the world not consumed by hate of others. We are a safe and peaceful country. The indigenous peoples have shared this beautiful land with us and we are working on improving our relationship.
150 years ago we were almost invaded by the U.S. After the U.S. Civil War ended in 1865, William Seward, Secretary of State, was incensed at the apparent role Canada had played in harbouring Confederate sympathizers, spies and mercenaries. The U.S had its eye on annexing Rupert’s Land which included most of western Canada just as it had annexed millions of square miles of Mexico after invading it in 1848.
In what has to be one of the world’s most delicate diplomatic negotiating acts, our future first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald with the help of others including the threat of British naval intervention, managed to sooth the high strung Seward. War with the U.S. was narrowly avoided on several occasions.
This real threat of U.S. imperialism was enough to overcome stiff anti-confederation political views held particularly in Nova Scotia. So in 1867 Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia circled the wagons and joined in a new nation called Canada for mutual aid and defence. (“Kanata” means village in Algonquin.)
We were so close to being absorbed by the U.S. and it is still amazing to this day that we somehow avoided it. So here is another reason to celebrate Canada today:
– Justin Trudeau is our political leader and not Donald Trump! Go Canada go, eh!
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