Toronto Celebrates Canada Day

The biggest event celebrating Canada Day in the city is at Downsview Park where up to 100,000 people are expected to gather Saturday for rides and entertainment. It’s an all-day party that kicked off at 11am and runs to 11pm.

Canuck musicians will take the stage and there’ll be plenty of games and rides topped off by a fireworks display at the end of the night.

For a list of other fireworks shows happening across the city, click here.

Another massive event happening on the Canuck holiday and the first official long weekend of the summer is the Chin Picnic at Exhibition Place where revellers can celebrate Canada and take in some of the 2,000 performers from around the world expected to hit the stages there this weekend.

The streets around Queen’s Park are closed for a celebration marking the anniversary of Confederation. The event kicked off with a 21-gun salute at noon and there is face painting and entertainment free-of-charge on the front lawn of the Legislature.

Some people celebrated Canada Day in Etobicoke by eating ribs. The seventh annual RibFest at Centennial Park, which runs until July 3, is expected to draw about 100,000 people.

And  a celebration and citizenship ceremony at Black Creek Pioneer Village made it a Canada Day some new citizens will never forget.

In Ottawa, tens of thousands of Canucks gathered for a huge celebration on Parliament Hill.

Governor General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper started the day with a tribute at the National War Memorial.

There was a wreath-laying ceremony Saturday morning to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battles of the Somme and Beaumont-Hamel, which began on July 1, 1916.

Canadian athletes were feted and a number of Canuck musicians will take the stage to entertain the crowds.

But while the sounds of birthday cheers filled the nation’s capital the sound of rumbling tractors was also heard.

A group of farmers parked about 175 vehicles near Parliament Hill to pressure the government to follow through on its promises to help struggling growers.

Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill.

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The official ceremony inaugurating the new Canadian flag was held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 15, 1965, with Governor General Georges Vanier, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, the members of the Cabinet and thousands of Canadians in attendance.

Mottoes of Canada and the Provinces:

CANADA

A MARI USQUE AD MARE
From sea to sea

Ontario

UT INCEPIT FIDELIS SIC PERMANET
Loyal she began and loyal she remains

Quebec

JE ME SOUVIENS
I remember

Nova Scotia

MUNIT HAEC ET ALTERA VINCIT
One defends and the other conquers
 
New Brunswick

SPEM REDUXIT
Hope restored

British Columbia

SPLENDOR SINE OCCASU
Splendor without diminishment

Manitoba

(Manitoba does not have an official motto.)

Prince Edward Island

PARVA SUB INGENTI
The small under the protection of the great
 
Saskatchewan

MULTIS E GENTIBUS VIRES
From many peoples, strength

Alberta

FORTIS ET LIBER
Strong and free

Newfoundland

QUAERITE PRIME REGNUM DEI
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

Origins of the word Canada:

The name Canada derives from the Huron-Iroquois word Kanata, which means village or settlement. The term was used to describe Stadacona (the current site of Quebec city) by two Amerindians who accompanied Jacques Cartier on his 1535 return voyage from France.

List of Prime Ministers since Confederation:

Sir John A. Macdonald 1867-1873
Alexander Mackenzie 1873-1878
Sir John A. Macdonald 1878-1891
Sir John J.C. Abbott 1891-1892
Sir John Sparrow Thompson 1892-1894
Sir Mackenzie Bowell 1894-1896
Sir Charles Tupper 1896
Sir Wilfrid Laurier 1896-1911
Sir Robert Laird Borden 1911-1920
Arthur Meighen 1920-1921
W.L. Mackenzie King 1921-1926
Arthur Meighen 1926
W.L. Mackenzie King 1926-1930
Richard Bedford Bennett 1930-1935
W.L. Mackenzie King 1935-1948
Louis St. Laurent 1948-1957
John G. Diefenbaker 1957-1963
Lester B. Pearson 1963-1968
Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1968-1979
Charles Joseph Clark 1979-1980
Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1980-1984
John Napier Turner 1984
Martin Brian Mulroney 1984-1993
Kim Campbell 1993
Jean Chrétien 1993-2003
Paul Martin 2003-2006
Stephen Harper 2006-