Today is Canada Day. July 1 is Canada’s birthday. All across Canada you will see families dressed in red and white to match the Canadian maple leaf flag. Their enthusiasm for Canada will probably also show up in the form of temporary tattoos of the Canadian flag.
The other thing you will see is birthday cakes. Corny as it may seem for those from other, older countries, Canada is young enough to remember when it was born and to still be counting the years. There is a definite sense of pride to be seen on the streets, in the parks and at the fireworks ceremonies that mark the end of this public holiday.
One other thing that will be happening across the nation is citizenship ceremonies. This is the official end of the road for anyone who has moved to Canada. Now you have been here for long enough (a total of 3 years, not necessarily consecutively) and are ready to swear allegiance to the Queen.
The whole experience of becoming a Canadian experience must be quite moving. I am going to say a lot more about this when we go for Sue’s citizenship ceremony – we are waiting for her application to be processed. I expect it will be a very moving moment, with the family there, the Canadian flags, “O Canada” and seeing all the other immigrants, from all over the world, proudly becoming Canadians.