Happy Canada Day!
Today is Canada Day, the day in which we celebrate the confederation of Canada in 1867. The day was called Dominion Day until 1982, at which point the name was changed to Canada Day. It is celebrated as a national holiday across the country, except sometimes in Quebec, where the provincial government under the Parti Quebecois has been know to refuse to recognize the day.
It seems like as good a time as any to help our neighbours to the south (Hi, America!) have a better understanding of Canada, Canadians, and its culture. With that in mind, I present the following little-known or often misunderstood facts about my Home and Native Land:
I hope this helps to clear up some popular misconceptions. I'm glad I could do my part to further cement Canada-U.S. relations.
1100% true.
2Not so much.
It seems like as good a time as any to help our neighbours to the south (Hi, America!) have a better understanding of Canada, Canadians, and its culture. With that in mind, I present the following little-known or often misunderstood facts about my Home and Native Land:
- Canada has a population of roughly 30 million people, all fit into a landmass greater than the United States (go ahead, get out an atlas and look. It's true). Toronto, the capital of Canada, is where I live, and is one of the country's largest cities with a population of 1 million people.
- It is not winter here year-round. Our summer season last from around mid-July to the end of August, and the temperatures sometimes get as high as 22°C (about 72°F) - hardly "freezing"!
- Not all Canadians live in igloos, although just about every Canadian knows how to make an igloo. Most cities look very much like your American cities, although as you get further from the city core and more towards the suburbs, the occasional igloo starts to pop up. In the prairie provinces, igloos are pretty commonplace. Toronto, being very cosmopolitan, has no igloos at all!
- Polar bears to not roam the city streets unchecked. On the very rare occasion that a polar bear wanders into the city, the Ministry of Parks and Recreation are very quick to contain and transplant the bear with no harm to the animal.
- All Canadians can speak French, as it is our second national language. Canadian school children have the choice of beginning school in either French or English, but starting in Grade 4 half their classes are taught in English and half in French, thus ensuring fluent bilingualism by the time we arrive in high school.
- We celebrate Thanksgiving in October, not in November (this always seems to surprise my American friends). We celebrate the second Monday of October, and it is a day of general giving of thanks). We also celebrate Easter on the second Sunday in March, and Labour Day is the last Monday in August (traditionally marking the end of summer).
- Hockey is not the national sport of Canada.1
It's Seal Clubbing.2
I hope this helps to clear up some popular misconceptions. I'm glad I could do my part to further cement Canada-U.S. relations.
1100% true.
2Not so much.