Tomorrow Canada will be celebrating their 159th birthday.
I was born in Michigan but when I was just 8 years old, my parents immigrated to Canada. My father was in academia in a small town in Ontario and later became a pastor. By the time I was an early teen, we were established in Scarborough, Ontario. My parents have lived there ever since. My dad has since graduated to Glory but my mom continues to dwell in Canada. They became Canadian citizens years after arriving and I, too, became a Canadian after marrying a Quebecois.
Canada was home and I still consider it as such to a big degree. I grew up there, got married, had three babies in this beautiful country. I have so many friends and fond memories still that when I go back for a visit it is always a joyful time.
But when did Canada first become a nation?
Of course this vast land (second largest land mass in the world), was explored and fought over for years and years starting in the 15th century.
However, Canada officially became a nation on July 1, 1867, with the British North America Act uniting Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the United Canadas as the Dominion of Canada. Full legal independence was achieved on April 17, 1982, when the constitution was patriated. Independence meaning we were no longer having to be ruled by Britain. We were no longer a colony.
Canada is still part of the Commonwealth of Nations and as such we have a Lieutenant-Governor appointed by the King (or Queen) to represent them in our great country.
Like America, Canada had many Christian (Protestants) founding leaders as they began to develop Canada into an independent country.
As we get ready to celebrate her birthday tomorrow, let us pray for this beautiful country and seek God for her. The Bible makes it clear when it says in Psalm 144:15, “…happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”