Celebration and Bitterness Mark Dominion Day 1867

Saturday, 01 November 2008 00:00

Guns boomed, bells chimed, rifles, pistols and muskets were fired on July 1, 1867, as millions of Canadians poured into the streets in cities and villages to celebrate the birth of their new nation. There were parades, military reviews, speeches, cricket and lacrosse matches, and special railway and steamship excursions. In Toronto, a fat ox was roasted to feast the poor. But in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick there were mock funerals, obituaries and flags hung at half-mast to mourn the deaths of semi-sovereign British colonies, while one of the Fathers of the Confederation was hung in effigy, with a live rat.