The Parti Québécois has decided to add a little spice to our country’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
“L’autre 150e”, or “The other 150” aims to remind Canada about the rest of our history, which started long before Confederation in 1867.
Quebecers aren’t the only ones to question the validity of the Canada’s 150 birthday celebrations.
Canada as we know it today was completed in 1999 with the separation of the Northwest Territories into two chunks, creating our third territory, Nunavut.
On the other side of the spectrum, some argue we should be looking even farther back, to the original settlers – First Nations.
And somewhere in the middle, there are Canadians arguing that we don’t need to waste money (some estimates place costs at $500 million) on a birthday when there are pressing needs in health care, clean water and housing.
Whatever side of the argument you stand on, the celebrations (which include free access to national parks all year) will go on. Why not make the most of them?
Thanks to the ‘birthday’, we’re having great discussions about a country we could all learn a little more about. Whether it’s finding out there’s a national park you’ve never heard of, or discovering historical facts they didn’t teach you in school, these conversations will be fruitful.
The federal government has also been generous in providing Canada 150 grants to communities like Carrot River, which will use funds to update their arena. Whatever excuse they want to use to give out free money is fine with me.
Finally, there’s the issue of national pride that’ll come up more frequently this year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada might be post-national – beyond a national identity. I don’t know that we’re quite there yet, but I can say that I believe there’s little that unites us beyond living within the same boundary on a map.
And that’s a-okay.
