Image: Opening ceremonies at Riverside Park. (Mel Rothenburger photo)

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: It was a great day to celebrate Canada, warts and all

Jul 2, 2022 | 7:06 AM

IT WAS A GREAT Canada Day.

All the Canada Day traditions were in evidence at Riverside Park. There were bagpipes, drums and flags, and the reaffirmation of citizenship. The Folkfest food fair dished out perogies, bannock, noodles and burgers. Politicians made speeches and circulated around the park shaking hands and chatting up constituents.

It was like old times. At one end of the park, a heavy rock band blasted out music; at the other end, the impressive creative talents within our community were on display at Art in the Park. The weather was perfect, with a slightly overcast sky providing protection from the mid-day sun. And everywhere, people wore red T-shirts and hats and carried red-and-white umbrellas.

And flags. It seemed as though almost everyone there either waved the Maple Leaf or wore it on their clothing, and they did so proudly, not as some sort of act of defiance or protest.

The crowd was, perhaps, not the largest in the history of the event — it was big but not too big, making lineups shorter and everybody less squeezed together. One of the best things is the kids, all dressed up in their Maple Leaf shirts and dresses and hats, clinging to moms and dads as they stroll happily around the park.

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It was wonderful, too, to be among Canadians of so many different backgrounds, dozens of ethnic groups, many folks wearing the costumes of their countries of origin. Canada is the most heterogeneous nation in the world, and that’s something to be proud of. (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a very important point yesterday during the ceremonies in Ottawa — Canada Day isn’t just about celebrating Canada, but about celebrating Canadians.

The protesters who feel they have so much to complain about should think about that.) There were differences from past Canada Day celebrations, to be sure. With all the work going on in the park, things had to be moved around from their usual locations but it all worked. There was more police presence than usual but it was barely noticeable. And there were no fireworks this year.

There was, though, a sense of delight, either because we’ve had to skip the last couple of Canada Day events due to the pandemic and people were ready to celebrate (there wasn’t a mask in sight), or because they’re tired of having to apologize for their country. When people sat on the steps of the cenotaph, it wasn’t in protest of anything; it was to enjoy some lunch from the food fair.

Those who spoke at the opening ceremony focused more on the many positives of Canada than on negatives, and on the communal feeling of being together again. Certainly, the reconciliation issue was present.

Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir joined Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian, MLA Peter Milobar and MP Frank Caputo on stage in a show of solidarity. Even in Ottawa, there were no major disruptions. Sure, the anti-everything group, including the “freedom” folks, wore T-shirts with very different messages than the ones here, many of them aimed at Trudeau, and not in a complimentary way.

Ottawa police handed out hundreds of parking tickets, and there was at least one scuffle with police. I don’t pretend Canada is perfect — its blemishes have been exposed for all to see — but I stand when the national anthem is played, wear my ‘Proud Canadian’ shirt and tacky ballcap, and fly the Maple Leaf on our front porch (this year we added the Ukrainian flag alongside it).

Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I believe in dialogue and context, not blockades and disruption. I guess you could say I’m unapologetically patriotic. As I write this, Cancel Canada Day plans seem to have mostly fizzled across the country.

There are plenty of things to fix: pandemic mandates, residential schools, expensive gas and groceries, cutting old-growth forests, any number of political issues. Today, we’ll get back to work.

But, yesterday, in our town, we set that aside and enjoyed a day of celebrating 155 years of nationhood, warts and all.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.