Edmund Schweppe

Happy Canada Day to my friends north of the border! (Pour saluer la fête du Canada en français, appuyez sur 2.)

The inherent good taste of Canada is, of course, most clearly evidenced by their having chosen to celebrate their national holiday upon my own natal day.

I've made it a habit, the last several years, of noting the coincidence of the Canadian national holiday and my own personal natal day by wishing a Happy Canada Day to my northern neighbors, along with a bit of a bilingual joke about pressing "2" for a French translation.

This year, not so much, what with the horrific discoveries of hundreds (if not thousands) of unmarked graves at Canadian "residential schools":

More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend church-run, government-funded schools between the 1870s and 1997.

An amendment to the Indian Act in 1894 made attendance at residential schools compulsory. Children were removed from their families and culture and forced to learn English, embrace Christianity and adopt the customs of the country's white majority.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation examining residential schools has identified the names of, or information about, more than 4,100 children who died while attending these schools, most due to malnourishment or disease.

Former senator Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) examining residential schools, has said he believes the death count could be much higher because of the schools' poor burial records.

I again wish a most happy Canada Day [1] to my friends and neighbors north of the border, who continue to demonstrate exquisite good taste by celebrating their national holiday upon my own personal natal day.

[1] Pour saluer la fête du Canada en français, appuyez sur 2.

I wish an especially happy sesquicentennial Canada Day [1] to my friends and neighbors north of the border, who continue to demonstrate exquisite good taste by celebrating their national holiday upon my own personal natal day.

I was here for your centennial; hopefully I'll be around for your bicentennial. (Hopefully, so will the rest of the US.)

[1] Pour saluer la fête du Canada en français, appuyez sur 2.

Joyeuse fête du Canada [1] à mes amis au nord de la frontière, qui continuent de démontrer délicieusement bon goût en célébrant leur fête nationale sur ce, mon jour natal.

[1] For Canada Day salutations in English, please press 2.

Happy Canada Day to my friends north of the border! (Pour saluer la fête du Canada en français, appuyez sur 2.)

The inherent good taste of Canada is, of course, most clearly evidenced by their having chosen to celebrate their national holiday upon my own natal day.

I once again take this opportunity to wish my friends north of the border a happy and safe Canada Day, and congratulate them on their exquisite good taste in arranging their national holiday to coincide with my birthday.

I'm also tickled to see the retweeting of my Happy Canada Day tweet, which was taken from last year's Canada Day post.

A Happy Canada Day to my friends north of the border! (Pour saluer la fête du Canada en français, appuyez sur 2.)

The inherent good taste of Canada is, of course, most clearly evidenced by their having chosen my birthday as their national holiday.

to my friends north of the border, who were clever enough to arrange to have my birthday be a national holiday.