Happy Canada Day to the Canadian readers of this blog. Here is a picture that I took of the CN Tower a few weeks ago just after sunset from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ). It also symbolizes Canada for me. 80mm f/1.2 in case you’re wondering.

In some parts of this country, July 1st has another, perhaps more laborious, significance: It is “moving day.” In 18th century Quebec it was forbidden for les seigneurs to evict farming tenants during the winter, a law that was simply inherited from France at the time.
As time went on, this evolved into a law – baked into the Civil Code of Lower Canada (1866) – requiring that all residential leases run from May 1 to April 30. May 1 was “moving day.”
In 1973, it was determined that May 1 was too disruptive to children in school and so an extension was granted on all leases, automatically pushing the date to July 1. It also meant moving in the summer, as opposed to in the spring when weather can be unpredictable in Quebec.
The requirement of fixed lease terms was also removed at this time (1974 onward), but tradition has persisted and July 1 remains known as “moving day.” This seems to me like a logistical nightmare and a highly impractical way of allocating resources, but perhaps I’m just missing some of the nuances.
In any event, whether you’re sitting on a dock reading the Canadian Constitution Act of 1867 with a Brickworks cider, moving all of your belongings (in what is a hot weekend), or doing something completely different, I hope you’re having a good one. Happy Canada Day.
Au Canada by Samuel Auguste on 500px
Not everyone who reads this blog is Canadian. Not by a long shot. But for those of you who are, Happy Canada Day. Today, July 1, 2015, celebrates the Constitution Act of 1867.
Canada is a young country, especially since we were still quite British in 1867. But we are a great country. And I feel privileged and proud to call myself Canadian and to have been born in this country. The best years are ahead of us still.
As Pierre Elliott Trudeau once said (15th Prime Minister of Canada):
“The past is to be respected and acknowledged, but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we will find our greatness.”
Oftentimes I feel that many Canadians struggle with their sense of national identity and that we don’t have the same patriotism that our neighbors to the south have. (Some would say that’s a positive.)
But Canada actually feels incredibly distinct to me and I love this country. So I hope you are celebrating today. I’ll be celebrating with tacos and margaritas. What about you?
Happy Canada Day to the Canadian readers of this blog. Here is a picture that I took of the CN Tower a few weeks ago just after sunset from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ). It also symbolizes Canada for me. 80mm f/1.2 in case you’re wondering.

In some parts of this country, July 1st has another, perhaps more laborious, significance: It is “moving day.” In 18th century Quebec it was forbidden for les seigneurs to evict farming tenants during the winter, a law that was simply inherited from France at the time.
As time went on, this evolved into a law – baked into the Civil Code of Lower Canada (1866) – requiring that all residential leases run from May 1 to April 30. May 1 was “moving day.”
In 1973, it was determined that May 1 was too disruptive to children in school and so an extension was granted on all leases, automatically pushing the date to July 1. It also meant moving in the summer, as opposed to in the spring when weather can be unpredictable in Quebec.
The requirement of fixed lease terms was also removed at this time (1974 onward), but tradition has persisted and July 1 remains known as “moving day.” This seems to me like a logistical nightmare and a highly impractical way of allocating resources, but perhaps I’m just missing some of the nuances.
In any event, whether you’re sitting on a dock reading the Canadian Constitution Act of 1867 with a Brickworks cider, moving all of your belongings (in what is a hot weekend), or doing something completely different, I hope you’re having a good one. Happy Canada Day.
Au Canada by Samuel Auguste on 500px
Not everyone who reads this blog is Canadian. Not by a long shot. But for those of you who are, Happy Canada Day. Today, July 1, 2015, celebrates the Constitution Act of 1867.
Canada is a young country, especially since we were still quite British in 1867. But we are a great country. And I feel privileged and proud to call myself Canadian and to have been born in this country. The best years are ahead of us still.
As Pierre Elliott Trudeau once said (15th Prime Minister of Canada):
“The past is to be respected and acknowledged, but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we will find our greatness.”
Oftentimes I feel that many Canadians struggle with their sense of national identity and that we don’t have the same patriotism that our neighbors to the south have. (Some would say that’s a positive.)
But Canada actually feels incredibly distinct to me and I love this country. So I hope you are celebrating today. I’ll be celebrating with tacos and margaritas. What about you?
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