ROTHENBURGER – For one day, Canada Day, can’t we all just have fun?

CANADA DAY WILL BE very different this year, but that’s stating the obvious.

No art in the park, no multi-cultural food fair, no beer garden, no speeches or oath of allegiance, thanks to COVID-19. We’ll mostly be celebrating from home though I expect some stalwarts will show up at Riverside Park anyway.

I fear there will be no fun this Canada Day for another reason — we’re in a censorious mood right now. Fun is frowned upon.

The lack of large-gathering celebrations won’t stop those who regard Canada Day as an occasion to complain about everything that’s wrong with our country. They’ll make liberal use of social media to explore Canada’s imperfections and historical wrongs.

It’s something that’s grown over the past few years. It used to be that Canada Day was a reason to be joyful about Canada.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.