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Back in North America, the Canadian peoples celebrated July 1 as Canada Day, the day when the British North America Act created the Country of Canada in 1867. This Act was the result of three conferences, over the space of several years: the Charlottetown Conference, which took place in September, 1864; the Quebec Conference, which took place in October,1864 and the London Conference, which took place in December, 1866 and January, 1867. Once British Parliament approved the British North America Act, the result of these three conferences, Canada was free to become a country on July 1, 1867.
See the list of founding fathers?
At the time the country was created, it only had four provinces: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Over a period of 132 years, it grew to 10,000,000 square kilometres, ten provinces and three territories. They are (in the order in which they joined the Confederation) Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick (the original 4 in 1867), Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in 1870, British Columbia in 1871, Prince Edward Island in 1873, Yukon Territory in 1898, Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905, Newfoundland in 1949 and Nunavut in 1999.
Over the years, July 1 was known variously as July the First, Dominion Day, First of July and Dominion Day. Successive governments of Canada, however, wanted to downplay Canada’s colonial origins, so on October 27, 1982, Dominion Day was officially changed by Act of Parliament to Canada Day.
The national colors of Canada are red and white, reflecting their French and English heritage. In 1921, red and white were approved as the official colors in the proclamation of Canada’s Coat of Arms. On February 15, 1965, Canada used the red and white colors in their flag, which is a red maple leaf on a white background with red bars on either side. In March, 1975, an act was passed recognizing the beaver as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada. Nearly extinct in the mid 20th century, the beaver was, by the new millenium, once again flourishing in Canada.
In closing, this writer would simply like to wish all our Canadian friends a "Happy Canada Day!".
Sources:
"Origins of Canada Day"-- http://www.southam.com/nmc/ohcanada/news/orig
"Ceremonial & Canadian Symbols Promotion" --
http://www.pch.gc.ca/ceremonial-symb/english/Read Canadian News http://www.canada.com/national/