Thanks go out to William Shatner for his work on the national anthem and to John Robert Colombo for his information on Dominion Day.
Dominion Day not Canada Day
John prefers the original Dominion Day to the current Canada Day and gives his reasons by email:
The BNA Act, 1867, now incorporated into the Constitution Act, 1982, defines Canada as “One Dominion,” so the country is not a monarchy or a democracy and certainly not a republic, but a “dominion.” This word is regarded as Canada’s sole contribution to the language of government, but the term was earlier used in Australia and one of the U.S. States is known as “the Old Dominion.” The word is familiar from the Old Testament where it is used in the sense of an estate.
John, I hope you don’t mind my publishing your message. It probably won’t help your cause, as my readership consists of a tiny, though highly intelligent number of people. Until I read your statement, I was under the impression that, as a dominion, we were under the thumb of Britain. Indeed, a Google search reveals that the matter is still debated in some circles. Thank you for putting forth the historical reasons for keeping the original term. Are there another other dominions in the world at present, or are we the only one?