1. Happy(?) Canada Day.

On 20 June 1868, then Governor General The Viscount Monck issued a royal proclamation asking for Canadians to "celebrate the anniversary of the confederation." However, the holiday was not established statutorily until 1879, when it was designated as Dominion Day, in reference to the designation of the country as a Dominion in the British North America Act. The holiday was initially not dominant in the national calendar; up to the early 20th century, Canadians thought themselves to be primarily British, being thus less interested in celebrating distinctly Canadian forms of patriotism. No official celebrations were therefore held until 1917 – the golden anniversary of Confederation – and then none again for a further decade.

This trend declined in the post-World War II era; beginning in 1958, the Canadian government began to orchestrate Dominion Day celebrations, usually consisting of Trooping the Colour ceremonies on Parliament Hill in the afternoon and evening, followed by a mass band concert and fireworks display. Canada's centennial in 1967 is often seen as an important milestone in the history of Canadian patriotism, and in Canada's maturing as a distinct, independent country, after which Dominion Day became more popular with average Canadians. Into the late 1960s, nationally televised, multi-cultural concerts held in Ottawa were added, and the fête became known as Festival Canada; after 1980 the Canadian government began to promote the celebrating of Dominion Day beyond the national capital, giving grants and aid to cities across the country to help fund local activities.

With only twelve Members of Parliament present, eight less than a quorum, the private member's bill that proposed to change the name to Canada Day was passed in the House of Commons in five minutes, and without debate. With the granting of Royal Assent, the name was officially changed to Canada Day on 27 October 1982, a move largely inspired by the adoption of the Canada Act, earlier in the year. Although the proposal caused some controversy, many Canadians had already been informally referring to the holiday as Canada Day for a number of years before the official name change occurred. Andrew Cohen, a former Globe and Mail and current Ottawa Citizen columnist, called Canada Day a term of "crushing banality" and criticized the change from Dominion Day "a renunciation of the past, [and] a misreading of history, laden with political correctness and historical ignorance." For Cohen, the change is an example of systemic denial of Canadian history by the Canadian government.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Day

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