Happy Canada Day!

Now let’s chat, short and sweet, about a little a bit of history!

We know that we mark Canada Day on July 1, connecting to the anniversary of Confederation. The Dominion of Canada came to be on July 1, 1867 with the passing of the British North American Act. A year later, in 1868, Governor General Lord Monck signed a proclamation requesting that subjects within Canada celebrate July 1 – then called Dominion Day. Dominion Day became a statutory holiday in 1879 as part of the “Anniversary of Confederation”. Dominion Day was changed to Canada Day in 1982.

In 1967, for the 100th Anniversary of Confederation, a large festival was held at Parliament Hill in Ottawa to celebrate Dominion Day. This evolved, from 1968 to 1979, into a National celebration in Ottawa every July 1st. Beginning in 1980, the government supported the creation local celebrations across Canada. Over time, fireworks became more widely integrated into celebrations – a tradition that continues today. Canada Day celebrations formally came to Mississauga in 1983, but we had long traditions to Dominion Day observances in our history.

One of the earliest known Dominion Day celebrations in historic Mississauga happened in Streetsville in 1883, where the day was marked with sporting activates and a lacrosse tournament, featuring the Streetsville Royals lacrosse club. In 1889 a large Dominion Day gathering took place in Lorne Park, where hundreds of visitors travelled by train and steamer to the resort grounds and Hotel Louise (part of Lorne Park Estates) to take part in sporting activities, music, and a large fireworks display in the evening. In 1897, the Streetsville Thistles lacrosse club won a Dominion Day tournament in Weston.

In 1902 Dominion Day festivities were held at the Cooksville Fairgrounds and featured a football (soccer) game where the Cooksville Football Club won the District Championship and were crowned the victors of the Western Division of the Toronto Intermediate League. On Dominion Day in 1926, the Streetsville War Memorial (Cenotaph) was unveiled, followed by a community picnic at the fairgrounds, softball, lacrosse and football (soccer) games. The day was capped by an evening garden party hosted by Trinity Anglican Church.

And speaking of soccer, we would be remiss if we did not mention Team Canada’s path in this year’s World Cup and the thrilling ride the men’s team is taking the nation on. We have long ties to the game of soccer here in historic Mississauga, with references to the game being played as early as 1888 in Malton and Streetsville. By 1894 teams were established in Cooksville, Dixie, Elmbank, Meadowvale and Port Credit, with a local championship being played in 1894 between the Streetsville Comets and the Springfield Lanterns. Soccer has grown steadily since its early days in historic Mississauga.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Canada Day on this 159th Anniversary of Confederation and wishing Team Canada great success at the World Cup!