Happy Canada Day!

On 1st of July, Canada celebrates itself with parades, fireworks and a lot of other events.

The day is the anniversary of the enactment of the British North America Act in 1867, which united three Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick -into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.

Truth is, that it was so hot and humid on that day that I skipped a lot of it. In the evening, Renato, Dennis and their boy Declan arrived in town, and we went for dinner and a walk.

But in the morning I went down to Ste. Catherine Street and watched the parade. I realized how diverse the country really is… Immigrant groups from all around the globe paraded as proud Canadians… Chinese, Hungarian, Burmese, and even a Danish Viking ship sailed through the streets.

Coming from Istanbul and Tel Aviv, I can also see what a through and through civilian society this is. Sure, I do have an ignorant outsiders view after barely a week here.

But I can feel the difference to testosterone-driven, underlying-ly aggressive Istanbul, and the constant reminder of war, force and aggression in Israel. I don’t want to be negative about the last two cities, not at all, they were beautiful, welcoming, and I had a great time there.

But this society in Canada feels pretty much at ease with itself, more relaxed, welcoming, tolerant, open. The in-your-face, get-outta-my-way, with-me-or-against-me attitude is totally absent here.

It’s a society at peace, hasn’t seen any military coups or dictatorships ever, hasn’t been in a war in decades – and never really had one on its own soil except for a couple of skirmishes with US troops back in their fight for independence… It’s a rich, well organized country.

Sure, any Canadian I’d ask would be able to give me a list of grievances and things that need to change urgently. And of course there’s the whole English/French divide that is present here.

The parade seemed pretty English to me, and this was confirmed by friends who say it’s mostly the western suburbs in Montreal who celebrate… the French-speaking Eastern part had its national day last week with the Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

People, well, mostly Americans, often say there’s not much of a distinct Canadian identity, something I don’t believe.

To me, whether French or English speaking, there’s a clear difference to the rest of the North American Continent… be it on gun control or health insurance.

Sure, it’s a huge country. I realized that last year when I was in Victoria on Vancouver Island, and a map showed the distances. St. John’s, on the other side of Canada, was 4700 miles away. Tokyo, on the other side of the ocean, only 4600.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts and observations after a week here in Montreal.

A funny anecdote: Canada Day is also Moving Day, at least here in Quebec. Most rental contracts for apartments expire on this day, so it seemed half the town was moving.

U-haul vans everywhere. People carrying furniture… Trash on the streets and abandoned sofas, mattresses, cupboards galore. Everyone seemed to move in and out of their place on the same day.

I wonder how they do this – it must be impossible and expensive to find a company for that day. And what are all those moving companies doing on the other 364 days?

Canada. Still lots to discover.