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And today it gently sprinkles warm rains to water the plants and freshen the air. Perfect timing after a sunny, hot Canada Day Weekend. Sounds like everyone had a lovely weekend and festivities. Belated Happy Canada Day wishes to you all.
Nat, thanks for the all the pictures. You have a good eye. It never ceases to impress me how clean and sharp Vancouver looks. And you captured such a diverse and fine looking crowd of happy people that were there, all enjoying the festivities together!
Something tells me that last paragraph in the article you attached gives the reason why April 17, 1982 isn't celebrated. It seems some people in Canada were not happy with the new constitution.
Still, at least the Royal Canadian Mint was thoughtful enough to commemorate the event with that year's Voyageur Dollar (see attached) so it wasn't entirely ignored. BTW I was lucky enough to obtain a handful of those the last time I was in Canada.
Because Canadian independence evolved over time. Unlike the United States, which basically popped into existence on July 4, 1776; Canada grew ever-increasingly independent of the UK since its founding. From Confederation (July 1, 1867, when Canada was granted self-governing Dominion status), through WWI (Canada signed the Versailles Treaty as an independent country in 1918), the Balfour Declaration (1926), the Statute of Westminster (1931, which basically ratified the Balfour Declaration), WWII (Canada was not part of British forces), the founding of the United Nations (Canada was an independent charter member at the UN's founding in 1945), Canadians shedding British subject status and becoming Canadian citizens in 1947, fighting again as ourselves in Korea (1950-1953), adding provinces on Canada's own initiative through the years (though under the terms of the BNA Act, 1867), getting our own flag without British iconography in 1965, and celebrating 100 years of Canada in 1967--well, April 17, 1982 was just another step towards independence. We don't celebrate the Statute of Westminster's anniversary; why would we celebrate April 17?
A colleague of mine, who is an extremely learned legal scholar in constitutional law and history, put it very well, when he answered a similar question some years ago. He stated that we count our age from the day we were born. We don't count it from our first day of school, or when we graduate school, or get a driver's license, or become old enough to drink or vote. We count it from our day of birth--which, in Canada's case, is July 1, 1867. Just as the above are all steps to becoming an independent adult, so are the steps Canada took to becoming fully independent. April 17, 1982 may have been the last one, but it was not the only one, and since Canada came into being on July 1, 1867, that's when we count its age from, and when we celebrate Canada's founding.
Last edited by ChevySpoons; 07-02-2019 at 10:13 PM..
Because Canadian independence evolved over time. Unlike the United States, which basically popped into existence on July 4, 1776; Canada grew ever-increasingly independent of the UK since its founding. From Confederation (July 1, 1867, when Canada was granted self-governing Dominion status), through WWI (Canada signed the Versailles Treaty as an independent country in 1918), the Balfour Declaration (1926), the Statute of Westminster (1931, which basically ratified the Balfour Declaration), WWII (Canada was not part of British forces), the founding of the United Nations (Canada was an independent charter member at the UN's founding in 1945), Canadians shedding British subject status and becoming Canadian citizens in 1947, fighting again as ourselves in Korea (1950-1953), adding provinces on Canada's own initiative through the years (though under the terms of the BNA Act, 1867), getting our own flag without British iconography in 1965, and celebrating 100 years of Canada in 1967--well, April 17, 1982 was just another step towards independence. We don't celebrate the Statute of Westminster's anniversary; why would we celebrate April 17?
A colleague of mine, who is an extremely learned legal scholar in constitutional law and history, put it very well, when he answered a similar question some years ago. He stated that we count our age from the day we were born. We don't count it from our first day of school, or when we graduate school, or get a driver's license, or become old enough to drink or vote. We count it from our day of birth--which, in Canada's case, is July 1, 1867. Just as the above are all steps to becoming an independent adult, so are the steps Canada took to becoming fully independent. April 17, 1982 may have been the last one, but it was not the only one, and since Canada came into being on July 1, 1867, that's when we count its age from, and when we celebrate Canada's founding.
Come one, give 509 a break. He said he lived in Canada, he never said he learned anything.
Canada has actually been independent since the Statute of Westminster in 1931.
True, but Canada has been pretty much independent since its beginning.
Most legal and constitutional history scholars would say that Canada was an experiment by the UK--"We've got this huge empire, and we cannot rule it all from Westminster, especially if the colonists cannot directly vote for representatives to Westminster--remember those uppity Americans?--so what if we grant self-government to some colonies, and see how it turns out?" It turned out well in Canada's case; so well, in fact, that self-governing Dominion status was subsequently granted to other colonies (e.g. Australia) that would turn out to be today's independent countries (or, in Newfoundland's case, a province of Canada).
In my studies of Canadian constitutional law and history, I don't recall any time when the UK Parliament intervened in any matter pursued by the Canadian government, meaning that Canada has been de facto independent since 1867. I could be wrong on this; but basically when it was necessary and had to happen, Canada just asked the UK Parliament to rubber-stamp things, and the UK Parliament did, with little to no debate. It should be noted that Canadians retained the right of appeal to the UK's House of Lords in legal matters up until the late 1940s. After that, the Supreme Court of Canada was the final arbiter.
Once again, Canadian independence was achieved over time, and in a peaceful manner.
And thanks, Nat.
Last edited by ChevySpoons; 07-03-2019 at 01:58 AM..
There are rare instances when reading posts on CitiData serves to educate or provide pause for thought. Chevy's posts are the exception to the norm and never fail to provide those opportunities.
Thanks Chevy for making us all a little bit better informed. That's not always an easy task given your target audience can/may range from the willfully ignorant, through the merely stubborn to the indoctrinated pavlovian.
There are rare instances when reading posts on CitiData serves to educate or provide pause for thought. Chevy's posts are the exception to the norm and never fail to provide those opportunities.
Thanks Chevy for making us all a little bit better informed. That's not always an easy task given your target audience can/may range from the willfully ignorant, through the merely stubborn to the indoctrinated pavlovian.
Perhaps 509 will respond, but I took their answer to be just another jab at Canada. By stating that we weren't really a country until 1982. The comment about the Queen was to me, another way of trying to say we still aren't.
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