canada day

After the discovery of unmarked graves of hundreds of Indigenous children, many people are calling for cancelling Canada Day celebrations on our national birthday, at least for this year. Some suggest we do away with the holiday altogether. Here’s an alternative. We might think about treating it more like the Jewish New Year. During the high holidays, Jewish people gather with family and celebrate what they hope will be the beginning of a new sweet year, but they also reflect on the past, atone for wrongdoings, and promise to do better next year. That’s the perfect Canada Day for me. Celebrate the good things about the country, reflect on past and present injustices, and come up with ways of fixing what’s broken, and work on doing better.