Hey all! Been a while since I've done a Sunday edition so here goes. I wanted to spend a bit of time to talk about tiffs, disagreements and feuds between friends and loved ones. I've had my fair share of them and, without going into detail, am currently dealing with one right now. It was my fault. I did something that shouldn't have been done and now a very good and close friend of mine are not talking. I'm sure there is a way out sometime, just right now it doesn't seen that way. While I'm here alone, I just wanted to send positive vibes to the rest of you all. Stuff happens. We all mess up, sometime worse than other times. But if you are like me, in the middle of some a tiff, don't worry. If you've been able to be friends for this long, I sure you can weather this storm.
Bibliography:
"Thomas, Percy and the Coal - UK (Restored)." YouTube. Accessed July 5, 2015.
BulkBarn. http://www.pennysaverblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bulk-barn.jpg. Accessed July 5, 2015.
This blog post will serve to celebrate my home country Canada. Founded in 1867 through talks by members of the United Province of Canada (today's Ontario and Quebec) and members of the Maritime Colonies (mainly Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as PEI and Newfoundland saw little need to join at the time).
Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891),
Canada's first Prime Minister,
1867-73 and 1878-91.
John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham.
Known to Canadians as "Lord Dur-
ham". (1792-1843)
What is interesting to note is though the process was peaceful, Canada is no stranger to rebellion. The rebellions of William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada and Louis-Joseph Papineau in Lower Canada forced the British government to send John Lambton, First Earl of Durham (known by Canadians who slogged through Pre-Confederate Canadian history as "Lord Durham") to the provinces to understand what led to such a mess. It is from Lord Durham's report that led to Upper and Lower Canada being merged into one colony known as the United Province of Canada. It is in this setting we (those who have studied Canadian history) are introduced to individuals like Thomas D'Arcy McGee (one of two political assassinations in Canadian history, other was Pierre Laporte, killed by a cell of FLQ militants), Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Sir John A. Macdonald (Macdonald is spelt this way! many a Canadian historian has died to make sure that D remained lower case!) and many others. Some of these men, like Macdonald or (if you bothered to look at the list of other members) Tupper, went on to become Canada's early Prime Ministers.
Lester B. Person (1897-1972), Prime Minister: 1962-68.
Canada has had an interesting history. Fighting in both World Wars, it made itself a part of the world stage through building up the image of being a peace keeping nation. This idea is owed to Lester B. Pearson,who not only served as Prime Minister (giving Canada its current flag and making Tommy Douglas' dream of universal health care a reality), but also served in the United Nations as Canada's representative. It was there Person stopped the UN forces from being used as a private army everytime there was a conflict (such as the case with the Korean War and the Suez Crisis) and even stood up to the US by refusing to go into Vietnam, much to the displeasure of then US President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Person on the right with three of his cabinet ministers
who would go on to be Prime Ministers of Canada themselves
(left to right: Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, and Jean Chretien)
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Queen: 1836-1901
Queen Elizabeth II (1926- Present)
Queen: 1952-Present
Unlike most countries in North America, Canada is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that our government is headed by a King or Queen and is represented in Canada by a Governor General. When Confederation reached reality in 1867, Queen Victoria reigned over Canada and the rest of the British Empire. Since then, Canada has had six monarchs, the current being Queen Elizabeth II, who will surpass Victoria as longest reigning monarch in September 2015. There are some who want the monarchy replaced with a republic but I personally think that it is necessary as it is what makes Canada unique from the rest of North America, especially when we are being bombarded with so much American culture these days.
To conclude this post for Canada Day, I would like to (in the ye old Canadian fashion) thank you for taking the time to read this blog post and wish you a happy Canada Day (or Dominion Day if you're an older than old school Tory). To finish, I would like to share a vid from when I was a kid, Mike from Canmore. :)
Bibliography
"Canadian Red Ensign." Wikipedia. Accessed June 29, 2015.
"Elizabeth II." Wikipedia. Accessed June 30, 2015.
"Fathers of Confederation." Wikipedia. Accessed June 29, 2015.
"Flag of Canada." Wikipedia. Accessed June 29, 2015.
"I Am Canadian-Royal Canadian Air Farce." YouTube. Accessed June 29, 2015.
"Lester B. Pearson." Wikipedia. Accessed June 29, 2015.
"Queen Victoria." Wikipedia. Accessed June 30, 2015.
