Canada One-Fifty, Canada One-Schmifty: questions we have about the sesquicentennial

Ok Canada, you say it's your birthday — but we have some questions. 

As the kick-off fireworks fade, the free park passes arrive in the mail, and the costs add up, we address a few niggling questions about Canada 150. 

Whose party is it, anyway? 

When Canada was formed in 1867, it had four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. So does it make sense for provinces like B.C. (joined in 1871) and Newfoundland and Labrador (joined in 1949) to be part of the party? 

Douglas Hunter, a historian and author, says there's one way you can look at it that justifies the cross-country celebrations: "It's a starting point. You could say it's the 150th anniversary of the British North America Act, which is the constitutional structure that gave us the country."

Not only can we see 1867 as a starting point for the Canada of 2017, but we can see 2017 as a starting point for a conversation about this country: the good and the bad.

"I think this is a good chance to acknowledge, how did we get started, and where did we come from, and where are we now," says Hunter. "I'm not telling the people of P.E.I. to not fire off fireworks, but understand that this is just a stage in a continuum. We didn't just sort of light a candle one day and a country existed."

Is 150 really Canada's age? 

Douglas Hunter says there's an argument to be made that Canada began in 1841, with the Act of Union.

The cities of Vancouver and Victoria are calling their 150 celebrations "150+" in recognition of Indigenous history.

On the other end of the scale, Christa Couture makes the case that Canada is younger than 150. 

Couture writes for CBC's 2017 team, and says she likes to think of Canada as a teenager, because it was just 18 years ago that Nunavut was created, bringing Canada to it's current configuration of three territories and 10 provinces.  

[I] like the idea of saying that Canada is 18, as far as it's been 18 years since Nunavut separated.- Christa Couture, CBC 2017

"I think that's my personal favourite, because it's sort of looking at shifting identities, and shifting borders, and what is a country if not those changing borders and policies."

Like Hunter, Couture sees 2017 as a chance to reflect on Canada — especially since there are many Canadians, herself included, who could find reasons to avoid the party. 

"As a person with a disability, as an indigenous person, as a woman in this country, as someone from Western Canada, there's a lot of ways that I do not identify, or want to celebrate, necessarily, 150. Yes, there's space for celebration, but there's a lot of space for reflection and also for critical thought."

I want to be part of the conversations that are looking to even conflicting views about what this land is, or what, you know, it is to identify as Canadian, which is an endless conversation it turns out.- Christa Couture

Will "sesquicentennial" ever seem like a normal word? 

Sesquicentennial: it has slipped into the Canadian vernacular like that neighbourhood cat who you one day realize has moved into your house. The word for "150th anniversary" is suddenly everywhere, and Canadians are getting a feel for it. 

But can you really see it gracing the public parks and buildings across the land, like "Centennial" does?  

Even in South Carolina, where Sesquicentennial State Park was built 80 years ago, the name still trips people up: "Most people don't know how to say it," says Tara Fisher, who works at the park. "I know working here it took me a little bit to learn how to pronounce it."

It turns out most people just call it "Sesqui," and they're not alone. 

There is, in fact, a Sesquicentennial Park in Canada. 

Brampton, Ontario, built it to honour its 150th anniversary in 2003. That anniversary also had a mascot, known as "Sassy the Sesqui Squirrel." 

Could Canada be awash in Sesquis by the end of 2017?

Canada: nothing but a real estate deal for a bunch of British fat cats 

So we've addressed the complexities of Canada's age and makeup, started to become familiar with that weird word sesquicentennial, and understand that 2017 is about conversations as much as it is about celebrations. 

What if you still aren't interested in joining in? 

Well here's an easy way to dismiss the whole thing, courtesy of historian Douglas Hunter: 

"Here's a bunch of British, you know, wealthy investors, who wanted to get their money out of the HBC [Hudson's Bay Company], and wanted to build a railway, and just make massive amounts of money, and the way they were going to do it is to have a country made.'"

And really, is a 150-year-old real estate deal really something worth celebrating?