On March 29, 1867, Queen Victoria signed the British North America Act. This beauty came into effect on July 1 of that year, creating "one dominion under the name of Canada". That was 139 years ago today.
Initially there was just Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The Red River Rebellion led to the creation of Manitoba in 1870, British Columbia joined a year later and Prince Edward Island joined in 1873. Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed in 1905 and in 1949 Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's tenth province. Ten provinces from ocean to ocean and each unique yet unified under a single flag. No other country on this planet is as diverse. 23.2% of Canadians consider French their mother language, and 85% of this francophone population lives in one province. There's also a great cultural difference from province to province with English, French, Irish, Scottish and Aboriginal cultures comprising the fabric of this nation.
From British Columbia to Newfoundland, we're so damn different but there's a definite bond. We're Canadian and we're proud of it. I've written about it before, but it's worth mentioning again. We've fought valiantly for just causes in the world, we're proudly progressive, the envy of others and just plain cool. There was Vimy Ridge, Terry Fox and The Maple Music Revolution. There's been 139 brilliant years from sea to sea and I'd bet the next 139 will be even better.
Sing it loud, sing it proud. O Canada!
