Canada Day in the Time of Pandemic

2020 is truly a Canada Day like no other. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic there are no public celebrations this year. In fact many of the traditional community events that we all love to celebrate together have been put on hold until conditions improve.

This program is not only a celebration of Canada Day in the Tri-Cities but also a celebration of our ability to work together in this time of need to support each other in order to get through the COVID 19 pandemic.

This is the first time in 46 years that there were no celebrations at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody to celebrate Golden Spike Days. This festival, a family favorite that celebrates Port Moody's unique place in Canada's history as the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, as written into our Constitution. Another loss to the Tri-Cities community this year was the Port Coquitlam Rotary May Day Parade. This is the first year that the streets of Port Coquitlam will not be filled with residents who have come out to watch the May Day Parade since the parade was first held in 1923.

Of course, there are number of more recent events such at the Downtown Port Coquitlam Car Show, Port Moody Car Free Days, and the the Kaleidoscope festival in Coquitlam, that have developed their own following that will not be celebrated this year, at least not physically, in terms of big crowd events.

While each of the cities in the Tri-Cities has decided to put on their own virtual Canada Day events, Tri-Cities Community Television has taken on the task of producing a Canada Day program for the whole Tri-Cities region. We've conducted interviews with representatives from groups like Share Family and Community Services, and the local community foundations, mixed in updates from over a dozen of our community partners and added just a pinch of messaging from our political leaders.

Throughout this program we've also sprinkled footage looking back at Canada Day celebrations of the past, as well as coverage of some of our other past community events that we will not be able to get together to celebrate this year. If you would like a more generous helping of this kind of programming please check out Tri-Cities' original Canada Day program which contains an additional hour and a half of community event coverage.

Tri-Cities Community Television would like to thank, and dedicate this program to, all of our Tri-Cities health care workers.