Also referred to as la fete du canada, or 'Dominion Day', Canada's national birthday was established almost 100 years before Britain conceded to let Canada have their own Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). No violent struggles or romanticized revolutions here. No, in a mark of history that feeds right into stereotypical cliches about Canadians being ever the unassuming, humble diplomats, Canada meekly accepted their severance from Britain a good 20 years after storms of independence struggles in other British colonies.
However, this isnt to say that Canada doesn't have its own violent past...of course, our bloody beginnings as a nation state harken way back to the advent of colonialism, the battling between English and French forces, and the strategic displacement and (ongoing) state endorsed policy of genocide of First Nations folks who lived/live here. Cheersch. (We apologized, didnt we?)
What does Canada Day mean? What does celebrating Canada's birthday in a back yard with beer and friends have to do with Canada? ...Nothing? Sure, it's a holiday away from work and an extra day to hang with friends or read a book, or go to the beach...but is it in anyway connected to the ways Canadians think about themselves and their place in the world? For me, it conjures up anxieties around land, citizenship, status and history - who's land? What institutional forces allow me to sit comfortably in a backyard and enjoy the space with family and friends? How do all of these considerations play out in my desire to go out and celebrate the day?
I asked the cast of 'How to Build An Empire: A Boy Scout's Guide' what they were doing for Canada Day:
James Burrows (Director) - On Canada Day I usually wonder why I am so fucking humble. I mean, there must be something about being Canadian that makes me this amazingly humble. I also tend to sit in a place where I can surround myself with stuff I bought in other countries that aren't as great as ours. Like Sierra Leone! well, i've never been there but I hear it sucks. And if I had stuff from there I would place it next to me on a day like today to remind me of precisely how much that place blows. I mean, I'm just sayin'.
Ray Godin (Musician) - Rehearsing
Karol Orzechowski (Musician) - for canada day, i will be licking the bones of dead prime ministers.
Stacy Douglas (Performer) - Drinking cans of Lucky inside while I update the blog. Then likely to a critical mass event at Harbourfront where I will politely agree with some man sitting next to me going on at length about how lucky we are to live in Canada. I might even contribute to the conversation by encouraging a consideration of our geographical and seasonal expanse - the rocky mountains, tundra, AND boreal forest?! Simply beautiful.Kelly Thornton (Stage Manager) - Skipping rehearsal.
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