Feature: Joyous Canadians celebrate 138th national day

With marching bands and troops, a fly-past by the world-renowned Snowbirds, and the ceremonial raising of the Maple Leaf, Canada Day celebrations Friday made the nation¡¯s capital a paradise of revelers.

Braving a soaring temperature, thousands of people mostly wearing red and white and with their faces painted with tiny Canadian national flags, gathered Friday morning on the Parliament Hill to celebrate the nation's 138th birthday.

The celebrations began as the Snowbirds aerobatic team roared across the blue skies. Followed by the national anthem "O Canada," sung by Measha Brueggergosman, a soprano from Canada's southeastern province of New Brunswick.

Cheers resounded among the spectators as Prime Minister Paul Martin held up to them the original Maple Leaf flag, delivered by a red serge-clad officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The historic banner was rushed back this week to Canada from Europe for the first time since 1965. The widow of former House Speaker and ambassador Lucien Lamoureux has kept the flag, the one raised on the Peace Tower on Feb. 15, 1965, in Brussels. She was recently persuaded by the Canadian government to return it back home.

The prime minister focused his speech on the flag and the Maple Leaf as the symbol of Canada. "The flag is an enduring presence.

It's in our lives wherever we go," said Martin. "It's why we pin it on our lapels, it's why we sew it on our backpacks. It's why, including one of my own sons, tattoo it on ourselves."

"Canada is a success story and we take immense pride in that," Martin said in a statement issued earlier.

"A country bound together by values of family, community, respect for one another, and a commitment to equality of opportunity. Our future is bright," He said.

Canada Day, originally called Dominion Day, was established by statute in 1879 to celebrate the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces.

On July 1, 1867, the Dominion of Canada formed by four provinces was set up following the passage of the British North America Act. It later became today's Canada as other provinces joined the federation.

The national holiday, renamed Canada Day in 1982, is usually celebrated in the capital of Ottawa with a routine involving a day of Parliament Hill ceremonies followed by a mass band concert and fireworks display. Banks, government offices and most businesses are also closed throughout the nation.

While there is no doubt Canadians enjoy the holiday that marks the nation's birthday, a new study shows they fared poorly when it came to answering questions on Canadian history. The 2005 Annual Canada Day History Quiz found the average Canadian was only able to correctly answer eight of 20 questions on the nation's past economic milestones.

Out of 1,000 people surveyed, only one person answered all 20 questions correctly. The results were the highest failure rate in seven years, said Dominion Institute director Rudyard Griffiths.

Source: Xinhua