Canada Day tomorrow, July 1

O Canada!

Tomorrow is Canada Day, celebrating the 1867 change of Canada from dominion status to Commonwealth Status. The monarch of England, presently Elizabeth II, remains as the head of State, just as she does in the United Kingdom, but the government is headed by the Prime Minister and, except for this archaic tie, the Canadians are effectively, if not literally and legally, independent. I believe that Australia and other former colonies have similar status, but the Internet is running so slowly tonight—probably because 9 or the 10 teachers of our group immediately hooked up their cell phones to the net upon arrival—that the information will have to await another day.

For ourselves, we are visiting Churchill in the morning to participate in what I understand to be something like the Polar Bear run you see during the winters in the eastern and Midwestern United States. It’s apparently a tradition here.