Calls grow to cancel Canada Day

The calls aren't new, but they have grown louder in the wake of what's believed to be the remains of 215 children being found buried in a mass grave outside a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

Cancelling Canada Day is something many have suggested should be on the table following that discovery and as provinces and the federal government begin a search for more mass graves.

The reasoning behind cancelling the traditional festivities, even if just for this year, is the same as the reasoning behind the day itself.

“In the simplest terms, it's the commemoration of confederation, the creation of the Canadian state,” said Shira Lurie, the University College Fellow in Early American History at the University of Toronto. “And we see that, of course, with the celebrations that accompany it; a lot of flag-waving, a lot of national anthems being sung, there are a lot of displays of military power on July 1st.”

Lurie says these displays tend to equate patriotism with loyalty to the state and therefore leave little to no room for reflection or critique.

“What some of us have to understand is that the celebration of the Canadian state is painful for many people and, in addition, the way that we celebrate on Canada Day can also be painful because it can erase and deny the historical and lived experiences of many communities,” said Lurie.

Lurie says those communities include, but aren't restricted to First Nations, people of African descent, Asian immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ+ community.

“So instead of, for instance, listening to politicians give us a narrow history, a narrow accounting of our national story, let's listen to experts, listen to elders tell stories from the past and present, so we can honour and reckon with the experiences of all kinds of people,” Lurie said.

She says it may be right to cancel the festivities this year but what she imagines moving forward is more of a re-imagining of it.

“I think, if we're going to have a day when we consider Canada and what it means to live here than let's have it grounded in reality and let's have it mean something,” she said.

“What's important, from my perspective, is to appreciate that critiquing Canada, advocating for a more just Canada, to me, that is patriotism.”