It warms the cockles of my heart to read and hear the glowing accounts of the government run events celebrating Canada Day but lost in the shuffle, thanks to provincial legislation, many of us. particularly in the retail sector, had to work because the the legal statutory holiday is Monday.
Red, white, GREEN andpatrioticNo shortage of national pride in T.O. |
Canadians aren't known to wear their hearts on their sleeves.
Yet, at celebrations across the city yesterday marking the country's 140th birthday, Canadians wore their national pride on their backs, their feet, even their faces.
The unofficial uniform at Queen's Park, where hundreds gathered on the front lawn for a day-long family-themed party, was red T-shirts and ballcaps, even red socks and shoes.
They waved paper flags in their hands and had replicas of the Maple Leaf painted on their faces.
"We feel like Canadians," said Algerian-born Nourredine Hail, who celebrated his fifth Canada Day with his wife, Dounia Bakiri, and their 14-month-old daughter, Mylena. "We share Canada's history. It's about friendship."
For her first Canada Day party, Mylena was dressed head-to-toe in the nation's colours, down to the Maple Leaf tattooed on her leg and the ribbons in her curly red hair. Mylena was born in Montreal, while her parents immigrated from France.
"This is part of her heritage," Hail said. "She has her own story."
The celebrations at Queen's Park opened with the singing of O Canada by tenor John MacMaster, followed by a 21-gun salute.
"It is great to see moms and dads out with their children," said Harinder Takhar, Ontario's minister of small business, greeting the crowd as booming of the cannon echoed around the legislature.
"Today is also a day to reflect on what it means to be Canadian ... No matter where we come from, today we are all proud Canadians."
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