Another era’s Dominion Day

CANADA AT THE BAT: Until 1928, locals gathered to celebrate Canada Day at the baseball field behind the Rodmay Hotel (above, in 1926)

For many Canadians, July 1st has historically been a day of celebration. It commemorated the formation of Canada as a Dominion in 1867, so it was called “Dominion Day.” In the eighties, the holiday was renamed “Canada Day” since the word ‘dominion’ was found to be an unappealing holdover from the British colonial era.

That wasn’t the last political change, of course.

Nowadays, celebrating the holiday is fraught. That’s due to a truer historical acknowledgment of what the colonial ‘dominion’ has cost First Nations, the treatment of some immigrants and refugees (such as those who arrived on the Komagata Maru, and those who came under the Chinese Head Tax), and others–especially since Canada’s tense 150th in 2017.

How should we honour an entity that has been and remains at once violent and exclusionary, but is also a place of safe refuge, hope and opportunity, and, sometimes, is an international beacon for good government?

Here’s how Powell River used to mark July 1. Official celebrations included a wide array of events, dating back over 100 years. The celebrations first took place at the old baseball field beside the Rodmay Hotel, then changed in 1928 to Willingdon Beach. The Riverside Oval also hosted a number of track and field events over the years.

It is said that on Dominion Day every road led to Willingdon Beach. The children sports began at 11 in the morning and no kid wanted to be late. The day was enjoyed by people of all ages but especially the children who “consumed prodigious quantities of hot dogs, ice cream and pop, astonishing onlookers and alarming fond parents with their apparently inexhaustible stamina” (July 1928 Digester).

Prizes were awarded for different age categories for egg and spoon, wheelbarrow and sack races. In 1925, first place in a two-minute blinded boxing match would get you the fine prize of $5. Contestants could also try their skills in hurdles, high jump, shot put and more.

In the adult sports, much amusement was brought by the biggest rivalry: the tug of war contest between the old paper machine crew and the crew on the shiny new paper machine. There were also baseball and football games, as well as dancing in Central Hall in the evening.

The crowning of the much-anticipated Paper Queen Contest for young women also happened during Dominion Day (it later became Miss Sulpher Gulch and then Miss Powell River). It wasn’t until 1974 that organizers first crowned a Miss Powell River from Tla’amin Nation: Jeanette Paul.

This event even attracted visitors from out of town; The Princess Mary ran a special sailing from Vancouver Island to arrive in Powell River in time for the events.

In the end, surplus money fundraised was distributed among various local clubs and associations.

How should locals acknowledge Canada Day now? We’re off the hook from figuring that out this year, as official celebrations were canceled due to COVID-19. But we won’t be excused forever. How might the history of Townsite, Tisk w at, and the rest of this region shape how we acknowledge Canada Day on July 1, 2021?

Blast from the Past is a monthly historical column written by the Townsite Heritage Society’s coordinator Joëlle Sévigny. The THS tells the history of Townsite from 1907 onward.