POSTED: JUNE 30, 2025
Canada Day, JULY 1, has always been a big thing to me. Like many Canadians I have had grandparents who were from somewhere else, and at least one parent who had chosen the country to call their new home.
We have gone in phases of course with many who will hyphenate their heritage and loyalties, Italian-Canadians, Irish-Canadians etc. but today with the threats to the country so real, and the challenges so great, it is exciting to see most of us just dropping that hyphenated portion and be proud of the country we have chosen.
Like the rest of the world, we have a lot of problems, some of our own making. Top of that list is our conflicted history with the Indigenous Peoples. But I think we are on the right path to reconciliation, even if it is early going.
I will be celebrating the day with a lot of Canadians and Canadian supporters on En Plein Air, here in Malta. I will be doing some cooking of course. There will be maple syrup, and various Canadian products. Its hard to source many of them in Malta but there will be a lot of Canadian Wines and Beer and some Alberta steak and some seafood from the Maritimes. The only thing I wont be serving is Poutine. I have always just found the combination of fries, gravy and cheese, gross. The soundtrack will range from the old stuff – Rush, Joni, Guess Who, Mr. Young of course, through the years of The Hip, Rough Trade, Sarah Mclachlan and then into the current crop but all in a mix, much like our country.
The attire will include various shirts involving the Maple Leaf, with several hockey shirts in the crowd.
We will end the evening with some Canadian Ice Wine, butter tarts, Nanaimo bars. The weather in Malta will be a great day and we will probably spend part of it out anchored off Gozo.
I have hosted this party before and with some certainty can set out clearly how the day ahead will go. I can’t however predict the future for Canada, but like all Canadians will have my elbows up, ready for what comes next.
Happy Canada Day!
Django
