January 1, 1967
Canada celebrates centennial amid nuclear devastation
At 8:30 pm last night, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson celebrated Canada’s centennial by lighting the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. [1] The event began with a brief tape-recorded message from the Queen herself, followed by speeches by several dignitaries in English and French, and a signing of the National Anthem. At the closing of the ceremony, the Prime Minister gave a speech fitting the occasion. Pearson said that “history and geography, man and the map, have made Canada a particular kind of community, where we can show the unity and diversity that all mankind must find, if we are to survive the perils of this nuclear age.” [2] The festivities kick off Expo ’67, which will open in nearby Montreal later this year. Across Canada, people are celebrating the anniversary in their own ways, from ringing bells, to building bonfires, to growing beards in the style of the nation’s founding fathers. [3]
However, there was a pall hanging over the festivities. Even though Ottawa, some 700 km from the Fermi plant, received very little contamination, the fallout from the Fermi meltdown has permanently changed the nation. A large swath of southwestern Ontario, bathed in radiation, faces a nuclear disaster. A hundred thousand people, evacuated from Essex County, are still living in shelters. The health effects on those living in the heart of Ontario, between London and Toronto, remain unknown. And still uncertain is the fate of Canada’s farmers living downwind of the Fermi plant, an issue that has ignited tension between the United States and Canada. Despite the exuberance on display in Ottawa last night, 1967 looks like a dire one for Canada.