This day and perhaps Remembrance Day should be the central holidays of our national calendar. They are connected. While Remembrance Day is the most solemn, Canada Day is supposed to be a day of gratitude and celebration..Remembrance Day honours our forebears who served in the wars that defended a hope for a more peaceful and prosperous land. Canada Day serves to humbly recall how fortunate we are compared to millions around the world. This year we are especially mindful of Ukraine, now making the kind of sacrifices for democratic nationhood that we may have forgotten..These respective celebration days are two sides of the same coin about a country and the attributes that make the Canadian nation. We offer respectful thanks for the life we have in Canada and the sacrifices made for the heritage given to us..For many countries in the past century, their story has been a record of subjugation and tyranny, civil war, and terrible slaughter. Many peoples for decades have been under harsh government rule. The stories of those who have escaped are horrific. People who have endured under Communism and have never known freedom, look soul-starved to Western democracies. Vladimir Putin’s murderous invasion of Ukraine is a reminder that there is still political evil in this world..So, Canadians should pause, offer thanks and express gratitude for our situation. Canada is prosperous and largely exempt from the miseries of the world, from real poverty, starvation and real violence..Despite everything we see in Ottawa as politically messy and inadequate, the majority of Canadians love their country and are sad when political leaders embarrass us..Our traditional Canadian social reserve is in contrast to the country to the south, “the excited states of America”. It is our Canadian consideration for the other fellow, keeping the peace and being nice, that is our endearment..It is wise to look back and see where we came from, and where we are, and evaluate if we need to refocus to keep on the beneficial path. Ideas become beliefs which become actions that become consequences..Our society sometimes tends to judge our forebears by our current understandings and sensibilities. However, we can’t go back in time and undo what our forebears have done, and tell our ancestors that they should have lived life a little more civilized because we know better. But we can look into the future and avoid those mistakes..Canada was a nation founded by those who held a Judeo-Christian worldview so an ethos of decency pervaded the nation. In the early 1600s, Canada initially was founded largely by Protestants, Catholics, and others who were greatly influenced by that cultural outlook of ultimate accountability in life as well as duty to one’s fellow man..The laws of Canada at the 1867 Confederation were derived largely from the moral law in the Bible. Our legal relationships were grounded in British Common Law. The influence was responsible for a moral reverent cultural outlook that pervaded the collective thought and actions of our early forebears, well into the early 1980s until, until Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ushered in the Charter of Rights..Our national day had been a federal holiday that celebrated the enactment of The British North American Act which united four of Britain’s colonies – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Upper and Lower Canada (which became Ontario and Quebec,) into a single country within the British Empire, and named our country, The Dominion of Canada. Our anniversary was celebrated from 1868 to 1982 (114 years) as Dominion Day until 1982 after Pierre Trudeau’s government introduced us to The Charter. July 1 1983 officially became Canada Day..With the Charter of Rights, the goalposts kept moving away from the Judeo-Christian values on which this country was built. Biblical ‘equality’ has been hijacked and no longer bears any resemblance to its original intent (Leviticus 24:22.) “You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born.”.Before the 1980s, the Biblical virtues of justice, truth, fidelity, diligence, perseverance, a strong work ethic, knowledge and respect for the guiding hand of God, all contributed to a moral ethos in the culture. Those basic ideas gave rise to a legal system where we sought equality before the law and justice without coercion. License masquerading as liberty was heartily condemned by society..With Trudeau’s focus on ‘rights’ without an adequate balance of 'responsibilities', the preservation of our moral ethical freedoms has been eroded. Such freedoms were fought for, first in Europe and many left those religious persecutions to settle in Canada..Our Peace Tower in the centre of Parliament was built in memory of those who gave their lives to ensure freedom. It is from a time before the start of the dilution of our Judeo-Christian values, and stands as the enduring sign of our moral foundation..On the outside of the Peace Tower, you can find our motto: 'He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,' (Psalm 72:8) over the arch of the East Window. The stained-glass window on the inside is full of Scriptural truths and images..Proverbs 14:34-35 NASB... 'Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people. The king’s favour is toward a servant who acts wisely, But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.'.We must remember that evil only triumphs when good people fail to act. We need to understand where we came from as a nation, understand how our national culture devolved, and figure out what we can do to uplift justice, righteousness and truth, on both Canada Day and Remembrance Day.
This day and perhaps Remembrance Day should be the central holidays of our national calendar. They are connected. While Remembrance Day is the most solemn, Canada Day is supposed to be a day of gratitude and celebration..Remembrance Day honours our forebears who served in the wars that defended a hope for a more peaceful and prosperous land. Canada Day serves to humbly recall how fortunate we are compared to millions around the world. This year we are especially mindful of Ukraine, now making the kind of sacrifices for democratic nationhood that we may have forgotten..These respective celebration days are two sides of the same coin about a country and the attributes that make the Canadian nation. We offer respectful thanks for the life we have in Canada and the sacrifices made for the heritage given to us..For many countries in the past century, their story has been a record of subjugation and tyranny, civil war, and terrible slaughter. Many peoples for decades have been under harsh government rule. The stories of those who have escaped are horrific. People who have endured under Communism and have never known freedom, look soul-starved to Western democracies. Vladimir Putin’s murderous invasion of Ukraine is a reminder that there is still political evil in this world..So, Canadians should pause, offer thanks and express gratitude for our situation. Canada is prosperous and largely exempt from the miseries of the world, from real poverty, starvation and real violence..Despite everything we see in Ottawa as politically messy and inadequate, the majority of Canadians love their country and are sad when political leaders embarrass us..Our traditional Canadian social reserve is in contrast to the country to the south, “the excited states of America”. It is our Canadian consideration for the other fellow, keeping the peace and being nice, that is our endearment..It is wise to look back and see where we came from, and where we are, and evaluate if we need to refocus to keep on the beneficial path. Ideas become beliefs which become actions that become consequences..Our society sometimes tends to judge our forebears by our current understandings and sensibilities. However, we can’t go back in time and undo what our forebears have done, and tell our ancestors that they should have lived life a little more civilized because we know better. But we can look into the future and avoid those mistakes..Canada was a nation founded by those who held a Judeo-Christian worldview so an ethos of decency pervaded the nation. In the early 1600s, Canada initially was founded largely by Protestants, Catholics, and others who were greatly influenced by that cultural outlook of ultimate accountability in life as well as duty to one’s fellow man..The laws of Canada at the 1867 Confederation were derived largely from the moral law in the Bible. Our legal relationships were grounded in British Common Law. The influence was responsible for a moral reverent cultural outlook that pervaded the collective thought and actions of our early forebears, well into the early 1980s until, until Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ushered in the Charter of Rights..Our national day had been a federal holiday that celebrated the enactment of The British North American Act which united four of Britain’s colonies – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Upper and Lower Canada (which became Ontario and Quebec,) into a single country within the British Empire, and named our country, The Dominion of Canada. Our anniversary was celebrated from 1868 to 1982 (114 years) as Dominion Day until 1982 after Pierre Trudeau’s government introduced us to The Charter. July 1 1983 officially became Canada Day..With the Charter of Rights, the goalposts kept moving away from the Judeo-Christian values on which this country was built. Biblical ‘equality’ has been hijacked and no longer bears any resemblance to its original intent (Leviticus 24:22.) “You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born.”.Before the 1980s, the Biblical virtues of justice, truth, fidelity, diligence, perseverance, a strong work ethic, knowledge and respect for the guiding hand of God, all contributed to a moral ethos in the culture. Those basic ideas gave rise to a legal system where we sought equality before the law and justice without coercion. License masquerading as liberty was heartily condemned by society..With Trudeau’s focus on ‘rights’ without an adequate balance of 'responsibilities', the preservation of our moral ethical freedoms has been eroded. Such freedoms were fought for, first in Europe and many left those religious persecutions to settle in Canada..Our Peace Tower in the centre of Parliament was built in memory of those who gave their lives to ensure freedom. It is from a time before the start of the dilution of our Judeo-Christian values, and stands as the enduring sign of our moral foundation..On the outside of the Peace Tower, you can find our motto: 'He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,' (Psalm 72:8) over the arch of the East Window. The stained-glass window on the inside is full of Scriptural truths and images..Proverbs 14:34-35 NASB... 'Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people. The king’s favour is toward a servant who acts wisely, But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.'.We must remember that evil only triumphs when good people fail to act. We need to understand where we came from as a nation, understand how our national culture devolved, and figure out what we can do to uplift justice, righteousness and truth, on both Canada Day and Remembrance Day.
