The celebration starts with Aboriginal Day, and ends with the Canada
Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as well as across the
country.
Heritage Canada has been busy naming the winners of the 2006 Edition of the Canada Day Poster Challenge, and from June to September, the Canadian Children's
Museum at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec will
exhibit all art work of the 13 provincial and territorial finalists.
Both the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador celebrate
an anniversary this month, leading to the national holiday of July 1st.
June 24th - Fête Nationale in Quebec
Formerly known by the name of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, it is celebrated
in honour of the summer solstice, along with the traditional
celebration of the Patron Saint of French-Canadians, who was officially
proclaimed by His Holiness, Pope Pius X, in 1908.
June 24 is Discovery Day in Newfoundland!
It is popular belief that John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) discovered
Newfoundland and Labrador in 1497. This discovery is celebrated on June 24th.
He and his small vessel, the Matthew, discovered North America in the
summer of 1497, although the exact location has never been determined.
The next year, in 1498, he made out for North America again with five
ships, but only one of them made it to Ireland, and he and his ships
were never heard from again.
Celebrated as a statutory holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador, visit <http://www.newfoundlandlabradortourism.com> to find this year's
celebrations.
"Genealogy News"
British Home Children and Descendants Association
The association will meet and hold their 4th reunion on August 4th at
Bible Hill Junior High School, 741 College Road, Bible Hill, Nova
Scotia.
Registration is 9:00-9:45 a.m., and the program will begin at 10:00 a.m.
For more information, please contact Cecil Verge at <willowcb@auracom.com>.
If you would like more information on
British Home Children, please read a column I wrote
on Home Children at <http://www.genealogytoday.com/ca/connect/031202.html>.
Agreement-in-Principal with Chinese Canadians- (News Story) Read the column published May 18th, 2006 in GenealogyToday.com.
Doors Open Ontario 2006
Over the past four years since this program has been held, more than
1.5 million visitors have taken advantage of Doors Open Ontario.
The fifth season began on April 22nd, with the first
event held in Guelph. There will be 45 events held this year, and you
are directed towards <http://www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_5773_1.html> to get a free listing of participating communities sites. Admission is free.
"Doors Open Ontario turns our cities, towns and
villages into living exhibitions for everybody to enjoy," said the
Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander, Chairman of the Ontario Heritage
Trust. "It's an opportunity for person of all people of all ages to get
to know our communities and discover their unique heritage treasures."
Doors Open Ontario runs through to the end of
October. Commercial buildings, gardens, houses, places of worships, and
museums are some of the places which will be open.
"History News"
Rideau Hall is Scheduling Tours this Summer The grounds will be
open daily from May until October 29th, from 8:00 a.m. to one hour
before sunset. There are both English and French-language tours.
Rideau Hall has been the historic home to Canada's
governors-general since 1867. Groups are offered guided tours all
summer long, as well as on the statutory holidays of July 1st, August
7th, September 4th, and October 9th.
Rideau Hall is located at 1 Sussex Drive, in Ottawa. The phone number is 613-991-4422 with the e-mail is <guide@gg.ca>. The website is <http://www.gg.ca>.
Admission is free to all events and activities.
New Site for Military Spouses Every Friday,
military spouses are wearing red in support of their men and women
overseas, and they want you to wear red, too.
They chose red in honour of Canada. Spouses can post their feelings
on-site, and not feel alone. Please go to <http://marriedtothecanadianforces.com>.
Changing of the Guard (Halifax) Lectures will be
given on the Changing of the Guard in Halifax this summer because it
will be 100 years since the British stopped defending the port. They
defended the port from 1749 until 1906.
There will be two lectures in June, and two lectures in July. They are:
The Castine Expedition: When Nova Scotia Occupied Maine (Friday, June 16 at noon)
The Four Citadels of Halifax (Friday, June 23 at noon)
Master and Commander: The Art and Career of Commander C. Anthony Law (Friday, July 7 at noon)
Nineteenth Century Military Medicine (Friday, July 14 at noon)
The website is <http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/roots/feat_res.html>.
For more information, please phone (902) 490-5813.
Deemed Never to Have Served
After the Second World War, approximately 14,000
Canadian men and women were "deemed never to have served'" because they
left the military without being properly discharged. Some left while on
duty, and others didn't follow the proper discharge process of
demobilization.
You can apply for proper discharge if you are one of these people.
Family members of deceased veterans can also apply on their behalf.
The administrators can be contacted by e-mail at
<centre@forces.gc.ca>, by phone within Canada at 1-800-883-6094,
or, if calling from outside Canada, call collect at (613) 995-0972.
By mail, they can be contacted at: Deemed Never to Have Served, c/o
Director Casualty Support and Administration, National Defence
Headquarters, Major General George R. Pearkes Building, 101 Colonel By
Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K2
The government started to review these cases in November, 2005.
100th Anniversary of the Atlas of Canada - (News Story)
Read how Canada has mapped its country and how the
atlas shows a growth in a "incredible social, environmental, and
economic diversity of the country."
June 21 is National Aboriginal Day
This day, June 21, was chosen as National Aboriginal Day because it was
the first day of summer. The summer solstice is when many Aboriginal
groups already celebrate their cultures and heritage on that particular
day.
"Indians, Inuit and Métis have made unparalleled
contributions to the developments of this country," said Minister of
Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ronald A. Irwin, in 1996,
when Aboriginal Day was announced.
To see what events are being planned, go to <http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/nad/index_e.html>.
June 27 is Multiculturalism Day
On November 13, 2002—by Royal Proclamation—Multiculturalism Day was pronounced.
It is a day in which there is an opportunity to
celebrate our diversity and commitment to democracy, equality, and
mutual respect.
To take part in the events, and discover the wealth of Canada's diversity, please go to <http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/multi/index_e.cfm>.
Website Pick of the Month!
Campobello Island Website continues to be Updated
If you have any connection to Campobello Island (it straddles the
Canada-USA border) then you need to go to the site <http://www.rootsweb.com/~nbcampob> and
see Heather's latest update. This update includes 20 obituaries added
to the Obituaries Page, as well as the first four pages of the 1911
Canadian Census which have been transcribed and put on the page.
There is an update on the county guides and
Heather's Surname Database has also been added to, with an additional
250 names.
There is also Miscellaneous Wills, Cemeteries &
Churches, Villages, Vital Records, 1851-1911 & 1910 Lubec, Maine
Census, Photographs, and even Postcards.
Sign the guestbook, and join the other 49,000+ visitors who have visited this site.
The next update is scheduled for September, 2006.
