How are some Canadians in Edmonton feeling about July 1 Canada Day?
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Kae Neufeld was getting ready for Canada Day with a group taking part in an incremental walking challenge 'across Canada.' She's trod the Camino in Spain and Portugal, so the walk is right up her alley.
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'This morning, I did about 11 kilometers. In May, I did 400 kilometres, and in June, I'll be over 400 again,' she said recently, adding her walking group reached their goal of a compiled 7,000 kilometers in three months, so they were enjoying additional mileage to be done by Canada Day.
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All her kilometres are accounted for in the Rutherford neighbourhod, where she traces a network of walking trails, taking in neighborhood ponds, duck families and birdsong, armed with walking poles.
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'I'm a great lover of nature. To me, Canada is this wonderful land which has these open skies on the prairies … Other countries, of course, have things that are beautiful for them. But to me, Canada is a beautiful, beautiful country.'
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Neufeld's president of the resident advisory council at Harmony, an Edmonton independent living community, where she lives with husband Don.
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'I think if you're truly Canadian and have the Canadian spirit, of sharing, of caring for one another, without getting caught up in a lot of politics and so on, I just can't see us separating or being part of the 51st state,' said Neufeld.
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Proud but reflective
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At West Edmonton Mall in time for the Brick Invitational hockey tourney and a Pokemon event, Postmedia encountered Ray Lenes, who is bound for the University of Alberta to study art and design this fall.
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For Lenes, Canada Day is a time for both cheers and reflection.
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'I think it's important to celebrate your country's independence while also recognizing all the mistakes and the things that have been done in the past, like, a lot of the crimes against Indigenous people and minority groups,' Lenes said.
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