Today is Canada Day, and this year Canada Day is perhaps a little more special than usual. On July 1, 1867, the British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into one Dominion of Canada. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick become Provinces of the new Dominion, and what was formerly the Province of Canada was divided into the two Provinces, Ontario and Quebec. That means that today, Canadians are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of their Country’s birth through Confederation.
Of course Canada grew after Confederation with other Provinces and Territories joining soon thereafter beginning with the North West Territories and Manitoba (formed from what was previously Rupert’s Land and a portion of the North Western Territory). This was followed by British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Territory, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Dominion of Newfoundland was shy at first; but decided to join Canada on March 31, 1949. The boundaries of the actual provinces and Territories would jiggle around a bit with the final shuffle occurring in 1999 when Nunavut was formed from the eastern portion of the North West Territories recognizing the distinct culture of the local Inuit population that resided there.
Almost everyone in Canada is celebrating our 150th Anniversary in some way. My small act of celebration on my website, shall be to share a song created 50 years ago which honoured the 100th Anniversary od Canada’s Confederation. I remember singing this song as a child, as I am sure many of my readers do as well. What they may not remember is that this humble song actually became a pop radio hit topping the weekly Canadian Pop Charts for one week in 1967 and reaching #41 in the Annual List of the Top 100 Hits of 1967 (in Canada of course.)
Happy 150 Canada; here are the Young Canadian Singers:
