Happy Birthday Canada!
On the 1st of July, we celebrated what is more frequently referred to as "Canada's birthday", particularly in the popular press, the occasion marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on 1st of July 1867. Where better place to be for the birthday of a country than in the capital, Ottawa, the locus of the celebrations where large concerts and cultural displays are held on Parliament Hill, with the governor general and prime minister typically officiating, though the monarch or another member of the Royal Family may also attend or take the governor general's place. Rising early, myself and one of my classmates made for Parliament Hill where most of the action would be happening for the morning. Already people were ‘out and about’ (said in my best Canadian accent!), dressed in red...