Happy Canada Day!

 July 1st is Canada Day, the day that Canada celebrates joining three separate colonies into one dominion under the British North America Act of 1887. Canada was still part of the British Empire, but it had new self-governing power. Canada actually didn't become its own country until 1982. Canada Day is celebrated much like we celebrate July 4th with barbeques, picnics, parades, and fireworks.

We decided to celebrate Canada Day by going to Burnaby Village Museum. Burnaby Village was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Confederation of Canada. It is designed to be a village from the 1920s. Many of the buildings were built during that time and later moved to this location. For my San Diego friends, think of it like Old Town, or for those on the east coast, it is similar to Williamsburg. There were volunteers in the various buildings to tell you more about the history and day to day living of those who lived in Burnaby. There was a McKay Barbershop and a McKay branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Apparently, there was a street named McKay where these buildings were situated. Not sure how the street got its name. I couldn't find an answer, but perhaps someone with better research skills knows.

There was a working indoor carousel built in 1912. The line was too long so we didn't ride it, but Joe saw
some Canadian Mounties all dressed in uniform riding it. He spoke to their commanding officer about it and it sounds like this may be a tradition for the new guys. Makes sense. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have their initiation by mounting a horse on a carousel.

Aside from visiting the various buildings and homes in Burnaby Village, we enjoyed some performances from a local native tribe, some Chinese drumming, and a very interesting art installation called The Wall Reconciliation Project. It was a wall made of ice bricks. It measured 2 meters high and 10 meters long. It was created to mark the 100-year anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923 acknowledging past discrimination toward Chinese Canadians. According to the artists, as the ice slowly melted, it represents“hope for a brighter future and the dismantling of these discriminatory barriers,” It was really cool. No pun intended.

It was a bit crowded with many people wearing red and carrying little Canadian flags. There were different vendors along the paths selling their wares and a food truck that sold Macaroni and Cheese, David was sure to try it out. Near the end of our visit, they were handing out little mini red velvet cupcakes with vanilla frosting. I think this is a common practice to eat red velvet cupcakes on Canada Day.

After Burnaby Village, we stopped at La Belle Patate for some poutine for dinner. This was Joe's request while in Canada. Poutine is basically french fries covered with gravy and cheese curds. You can add additional toppings. I had chunks of chicken on mine. David had BBQ chicken. Joe had beef and smoked meat. (similar to pastrami). David was not impressed. I thought it was okay, but to be fair, you really have to like gravy to appreciate this dish.

On a completely different note, it is crazy what a small world it is. A teacher, Jasmine Feser, who I once worked with is in Vancouver with her family. Jasmine is the one who told me about the Museum of Clean in Pocatello, Idaho so many years ago. Also, my boss, Jennifer Cauzza, the Executive Director of JCS, will be traveling through Vancouver tomorrow. This is a popular city!

Almost time for bed. It's an early morning to catch the ferry to Victoria. As I finished up this post, David played "Oh, Canada" to send me off to sweet dreams.

O Canada! 

Our home and native land! 

True patriot love in all thy sons command. 

With glowing hearts we see thee rise, 

The True North strong and free! 

From far and wide, O Canada, 

We stand on guard for thee. 

God keep our land glorious and free! 

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee, 

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.