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Canada Place claims their Canada Day celebration has historically been the largest outside of Ottawa
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Clyde Graham and his family had no idea their visit to Vancouver would coincide with Canada Day, and were thrilled to take part in the celebration at Canada Place on Monday.
“It’s such a beautiful city and this is like a cherry on top,” said Graham, from Wolverhampton in England.
And he had a question: How come he and his wife have heard people say Canada is broken?
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“Broken?” he said. “Come to the U.K., mate!”
There might have been as many tourists as Canadians at the downtown celebration, which included 60 new citizens sworn in that morning in a Canada Place ballroom.
Leslie Benisz was at the citizenship ceremony. He hasn’t missed one since he moved to Vancouver in 1989, except the one held virtually because of COVID-19.
Wearing a red hockey sweater from the 2009 World Police and Fire Games that was held in Vancouver (his sister was a participant), a Canadian blood donor button, a ribbon in honour of fallen police officers, and one for autism, he was carrying a big Maple Leaf flag.
Born in Canada, he spent the first 10 years of his life in Israel with his diplomat parents.
“The highlight of my Canada Day is the citizenship ceremony,” Benisz said. “It’s very important to me to welcome them, people who have literally risked their lives or spent a huge amount of money to come here.
“It reminds me to not take our rights and way of life for granted. I’m proud that we’re compassionate, courageous and caring, and that people know when they step foot on Canadian soil they are safe and they are free.”
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Asked about Canada being broken, he thought for a moment.
He mentioned residential schools and unmarked graves, mentioned the struggles the LGBT community has had gaining rights.
“I hear people say Canada is broken,” Benisz said. “We’ve come a long way, but we have some dark chapters that need to be reconciled. We’re not perfect by any means, but every single day we can make ourselves better.
“There’s always work to be done, but I’ll never stop loving my country and contributing to it.”
The downtown Vancouver celebration joined similar ceremonies in sister cities around Metro Vancouver, including at Surrey’s Bill Reid Millennial Amphitheatre in Cloverdale where organizers billed the ceremonies as the largest in Western Canada.
Canada Place claims theirs has historically been the largest Canada Day celebrations outside of Ottawa.
Maria Lopez was with two other moms and their three daughters at Canada Place, all in red and white, the three girls waving tiny Maple Leafs. They are visiting from Honduras and were getting their photos taken with a Mountie in Red Serge, with the cruise ship Disney Wonder as a backdrop.
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“My image of Canada was police on horses wearing red coats and (First Nations); I got to see both today, it’s incredible,” Lopez said, referring to the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh art and dance on display.
Annya Mah, visiting from Taipei, said to her Canada means forests, mountains and water.
“And it’s all here in one place,” she said.
The kids’ zone was hopping, with the annual mascot dance-off, Indigenous storytelling and performances, while on the main stage acts such as Said the Whale, the Free Label, Fake Shark and other acts performed.
Over at a cart where a young woman was selling ice cream, Ghulam Nabi Hakimi was handing out little Canada flags. His family roots are in Mongolia and he arrived in Canada in 1996 via Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“I love, love, love you Canada, 1,000, 1,000 per cent,” he said. “For 28 years I’ve lived in Canada, first Montreal and now Vancouver, and I’m always happy.
“People who think Canada is broken are crazy — Canada is the best.”
gordmcintyre@postmedia.com
twitter.com/gordmcintyre
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