Canada 150: Canadians Celebrate in 2017

Canadians will be celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1 and throughout all of 2017.

What are you plans? How will you mark the occasion?

In 1867 Canada was a young nation just getting to its feet. It is said by some that Expo 1967 was Canada’s coming out party. Well here we are 50 years later and Canada, a G7 country with an outsized international reputation, seems ready to really kick up its heels.

Ancestry Project was inspired partly by this amazing occasion. If we’re going to talk about who we are as Canadians, what better opportunity to do so than the year in which we mark a century and a half of nationhood?

Though not without its flaws, Canada is a remarkable place. I’ve often thought that as a Western, English-speaking country, we have the best of both worlds – the tradition and calm of the UK, and the energy and ambition of the US. Canada represents an international crossroads.

With the recent arrival of 25,000 Syrian refugees, this is especially true today. Though Canada denied Jewish immigrants during the early 20th century, we later accepted the Vietnamese boat people. Multiculturalism, human rights, and the concepts of fairness and equality are well-entrenched.

It’s my hope that this online education project can play a role in promoting positive inter-cultural relations, and promote thoughtful study.

Thank you for participating in Ancestry Project during Canada 150. I’ll be in Ottawa in spring – hopefully I’ll catch some freshly sprung tulips.

I hope you’ll take the time to check out the rest of the Ancestry Project website It will be a useful resource and companion to your educational planning throughout 2017.