Today is Canada's 144th birthday and in the Tri-Cities we are kicking off a long weekend with a party in every city.
But what, exactly, are we celebrating with cake, the maple leaf, red and white face paint and fireworks?
Are we really that excited about Confederation, which created a country from three provinces - the Province of Canada, made up of what is now Ontario and Quebec, plus Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Maybe, although B.C. wasn't part of the deal.
Is it good government we applaud? Do we thrill to the British North America Act that divided powers between the federal parliament and the provinces to create the Canadian form of federalism? Maybe.
More likely, though, we Canucks are celebrating what has taken nearly 150 years to create: a relatively tolerant, peace-loving, multicultural nation that has one of the highest standards of living in the world.
