I have a vague memory of wearing a special dress with yellow and white flowers, a matching bonnet-style hat, and assembling in a parade of some sorts to honor Canada’s 100th birthday. It was 1967 and I was in Grade 3. Or maybe Grade 4. It doesn’t matter.
The song was The Centennial Song and written by Canadian musician Bobby Gimby to celebrate Canada’s centennial and Expo 67. Gimby was born in the province I live in, something I just found out while writing this blog, in 1918. He died in 1998. Huh.
Back in the day, that song became a national treasure. I can hear myself and friends giggling as we echoed “one little two little three Canadians” and shouted “North, South, East, West.” We must have driven our teachers crazy! The Centennial Song was composed at a time when the French and English sides of Canada were at odds with each other (when aren’t they?) and the hope was that by featuring both languages, the song would unite the divided country. I’m sure it did for awhile. I was too young to understand or really care about what was happening.
Sadly, I don’t think I’ve heard that song since. It’s unfortunate because our country is just as divided, if not more, as it was then. Now its mostly divided over the unfair treatment of Indigenous people who were on the land long before the Europeans ventured this way. The treaties are not being honored, Residential schools (closed in the late 1990s) created intergenerational trauma, and many Indigenous communities still don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water.
There was a movement to end Canada Day celebrations that gathered steam a few years ago. The movement escalated after the unmarked graves of about 215 children were found at the old Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
Despite the calls to cancel Canada Day celebrations, Stats Canada reports that in 2025, 83% of Canadians were proud to be Canadian. This sense of pride has increased in the last couple of years and most of the credit for that goes to the infamous leader down south.
My sister-in-law was just here for a wonderful, weeklong visit. She is originally from El Salvador but has spent the last 40 years in the USA. Although she is grateful for her home, she’s not particularly happy about the current situation. It’s funny how being with someone from another country brings out your inner patriotism. We waved our Canadian flag in her face every chance we got! Sorry, Rosa. It couldn’t be helped!
Canada is a young country. This year it turns 159. That’s 159 years since Confederation, when everything was made official and we gained independence from Great Britain. We have made a lot of mistakes, and I hope that we can learn to rectify those mistakes going forward.
But, regardless of how you feel, today, July 1, is a birthday. And that means cake. I’m going to get mine!
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/quiz/canada-quiz?Im51bVF1ZXN0aW9ucz0xMCZudW1Db3JyZWN0PTgi
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cancel-canada-day-canadian-voices-1.6076022
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250910/dq250910b-eng.htm
Wanderings Art 
What a great, balanced perspective, as usual. 🇨🇦
cute video, too.
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