As co-chair of Canada Day Festivities 2015 with Councillor Glenn J. Nashen, I have been gearing up for July 1 for several months now. I just have to hope that the preliminary forecast calling for possible showers is wrong. There is simply too much to get excited about. Please take the time to see the videos embedded in this posting.
First of all, we will honour Irwin Cotler with an induction onto the Human Rights Walkway while highlight the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian flag.
“Our Canada Day event attracts thousands of people and it’s an opportunity to honour people who have made a difference, whether somewhere else in the world or here at home,” Mayor Anthony Housefather said. “This year we have decided to induct Professor Irwin Cotler on the Côte Saint-Luc Human Rights Walkway. For the past five decades, he has devoted his intellect and advocacy skills to the pursuit of justice around the world, first as an international human rights lawyer and later as a Member of Parliament for Mount Royal, and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, where he made the pursuit of international justice a government priority.”
Mayor Housefather, of course, hopes to succeed Cotler as the MP for Mount Royal in the October 19 election.
All Canada Day activities take place at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park on Mackle Rd. The Irwin Cotler induction is scheduled for 9:05 pm.
To highlight the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian flag we will be flying a greater than usual number of Canadian flags throughout Côte Saint-Luc. Also, the children from our day camps will be producing a banner that will be displayed during the festivities. The theme of the banner is Canada and what does being Canadian mean to you.
Canada Day will also feature a Canadian citizenship ceremony for new Canadians, live music by Replay the Beatles and a show with The Incredible Boris, comedy hypnotist. Kids will enjoy storytelling, inflatable games, the children’s train, the roaming magician, arts and crafts and more. Other activities include free pedal boats on Centennial Lake, a photo booth, a model airplane show, a model boat show, free cupcakes, and the closing fireworks at 9:45 pm.
See the Canada Day schedule at www.CoteSaintLuc.org/CanadaDay2015.
This year’s masters of ceremonies is a tag-team of four personalities from Global TV: Camille Ross,Jessica Laventure, Elysia Bryan-Baynes and Travis Todd.
Event sponsors include Canadian Heritage, Global, Qualitifruits, Domino’s Pizza, The Suburban, Maac.ca, Quartier Cavendish, RBC, Scotiabank, Chartwell Castel Royal and West Island Music Academy.
In case of heavy rain, many activities would move to the Confederation Annex in Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park. The Canadian citizenship ceremony would be moved to the Aquatic and Community Centre (5794 Parkhaven) at 5 pm. The induction ceremony for Irwin Cotler on to the Human Rights Walkway would take place at 6 pm. The fireworks display would be postponed to Thursday, July 2 starting at 9:30 pm. The kids train and model airplanes and boats would be cancelled.
