Canada Day celebrated with spirit

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This article was published 02/07/2024 (504 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDEN — Canadians from all walks of life — including many new citizens — celebrated Canada Day yesterday with spirit.

A citizenship ceremony took place at the International Peace Garden at the Canada-U.S. border, providing the perfect backdrop for residents to take their final step toward Canadian citizenship — affirming their allegiance through the citizenship oath.

The oath was administered to more than 40 people from 14 different countries by Dwight Macaulay, honorary consul of the United Kingdom.

“I can’t think of a better spot or a better day of the year to do this. It’s absolutely perfect,” Macaulay told the Sun at the ceremony.

Calling himself a very proud Canadian, he encouraged the new citizens to swear the oath in both languages to honour Canada’s official bilingualism. He began the ceremony with a land acknowledgement before discussing the critical role diversity plays in Canadian culture.

Macaulay urged the new Canadians to get involved in their communities through volunteering — not only for their sake, but their community’s. All Canadians benefit from being able to share and experience another’s culture, he said, telling guests and new citizens that Canada is the only country that can say it has accepted people from every nation on earth.

He recalled a moment at a citizenship ceremony he presided over years ago when a member of Parliament told the audience that they don’t have to worry about trying to win one of the unusually large lottery prizes — they already won the “lottery of life” by becoming Canadians. That is exactly how Macaulay said he feels about Canada as well.

“When you’re in a plane and you’re close to Canada, I think I start breathing a little easier … I think Canada is the most beautiful country in the world, and we’re the freest country in the world,” he said.

On what was supposed to be a rainy day, the sun shone over the gardens and the smiling oath-takers. Seating was separated into two sections. Those taking the oath sat on the left, the Canadian side, because they were not technically Canadians yet. The right side of the gardens is in U.S. territory.

After Macaulay led everyone, guests included, in the oath, the new Canadians signed their last piece of paperwork before taking their seats with their certificates.

Many of those receiving their citizenship were doing so with their families, like Cornél Pretorius. She, her husband and her children moved to Canada five years ago from Namibia.

“(We came to Canada) just for a new challenge … It is a huge challenge and there is so many obstacles you have to go through, and we miss family, but we love it here. Truly,” she said.

Their immigration officer went above and beyond by connecting them with other families from southern Africa that have moved to the area recently. The Pretoriuses planned to spend the rest of the day celebrating with their new friends from South Africa, one of whom recently gave birth — marking a second generation of Canadians in their family.

The majority of new Canadians were dressed in red and white from head to toe, including the entire Dada family. Steve Dada and his wife brought their young children to Canada from Nigeria three years ago and said they have no regrets.

“It’s going to be an easy day to remember for us. Every Canada Day is going to be a celebration of our Canadian experience, so it’s going to be a forever thing for us,” he said.

In Brandon, Canada’s diversity was on display as well. Families from all over the region came to celebrate at the Riverbank Discovery Centre, where entertainment was planned for the entire day, starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 11 p.m. with fireworks.

The Idalu family has been coming to the Riverbank for Canada Day for the last six years. While Nneka Idalu said every year keeps getting better and better, Martin Idalu said that this year has definitively been the best yet because of the music and bands performing. Nneka said she was happy to see even more diversity than last year.

“It’s now very obvious to see that we have more Blacks … Before, you can pick yourself out in the crowd. Right now, we have people from different backgrounds, cultural and stuff like that,” she said, gesturing to the large crowd gathered in front of the Riverbank stage.

“The music bands brought … very, very good,” Martin added. “There’s some dimension to it.”

Kids were able to enjoy bounce houses and facepainting, while many homegrown acts took to the stage.

This year’s headliner was Canadian folk artist Valdy, who organizer Dean Hammond said was so popular last year they had to bring him back for this year’s celebration.

A new addition to this year’s festivities was the canoe rides offered by Voyageur. The rides were partially subsidized by the Riverbank, making the opportunity to cruise around the river more accessible to families.

Visitors finishing out the day at the Riverbank were in for a grand finale.

“Last year, we upped the budget for the fireworks and we got really good feedback from that. This year we’re continuing with that … Our fireworks provider says they have some new and neat stuff in store for us this year,” Hammond said.

» cmcconkey@brandonsun.com