Not so silent E - We failed at Canada Day

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Published on Thursday, July 9, 2015

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

Much like the local reaction to the Canada Day celebrations in Neepawa, Eoin Devereux finds himself conflicted on his opinion toward the lack of festivities. This week, he has written two separate editorials examining both sides of the argument he’s having with himself about it. The companion editorial 'Either lend a hand or get over it!' can be seen at the attached link.

Over the past few days, there has been a fair amount of reaction online to the simplicity of Neepawa’s Canada Day celebrations this year. Some people have said that having a low key event was not a big deal. Others have blasted the Town, especially online, for not putting on a grander spectacle. Now if you have been one of those people jumping in on this discussion, I have no doubt that you have likely said to yourself “Hey what does the local sports guy with the weirdly spelled first name think about all this?”

Now most people in the town of Neepawa likely know me simply as 200 pounds of whiskey and sarcasm, but there is actually more to me than that. There is an individual who is fiercely proud of being a Canadian. I’m proud of it because it was earned. Allow me to explain.

My family immigrated to Canada from Ireland when I was very young, so for many years, I had what is known as landed immigrant status. That meant I could live and work here, but could not vote and if I broke the law, the government could have legally kicked my butt out and send me back to the motherland. When I was about 21 years old, I decided it was time to make it official and become a full fledged Canuck. 

After taking the citizenship test and promising to stop drinking Guinness and start drinking Molson, the government decided to let me stay. That meant something to me. It still does, because Canada gave my family an opportunity that we could not have achieved had we remained in Ireland.

To this day, I still keep my citizenship card in my wallet. I also have a more permanent reminder in the form of a tattoo to commemorate that moment. Written in ink are the words ‘Irish by birth, Canadian by choice.” There is so much meaning behind that statement to me because it was a choice. I chose to be Canadian and it’s one of the best decisions of my life.

Now, when I look around this community, I see so many immigrants to this country, just like my family. I see people who came here for a job opportunity and a shot at a better life, just like my family and most importantly, I see people who are proud to be here…Just like my family and just like me. We failed those people on July 1. 

Because of the lack of events occurring locally, I travelled to Minnedosa for a little while to see what was going on and I must say that the amount of festivities going on there were quite impressive. Also impressive to me was the number of residents from Neepawa I ran into during that short period of time. I won’t name names….but you know who you are. 

As I returned home,  I pondered the difference in the scope of the celebrations and thought to myself “Does Minnedosa love Canada more than Neepawa does?” I hope that the answer to that question is no, but we did a pretty bad job of proving it. 

The lack of events in Neepawa surrounding the fireworks was upsetting to me because it felt as though we took Canada Day and more importantly, its meaning for granted. This is not just an ordinary statutory holiday which just happened to have some pretty lights in the sky at the end of it. It means more….It has to mean more.