Why Is Vimy Ridge Important

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1917 - the Battle of Vimy Ridge. This is long been considered a defining moment. For the first time, Canadians, working together, and not as part of something else, planned, and executed a brilliant victory for the Allies. Before this, many considered Canada just an offshoot of the Brits, but, this showed the world, and more importantly Canada, that we didn't need anyone else's help to be successful. And, we were incredibly successful in this battle. Vimy Ridge was a defining moment in Canadian history because they managed to prove their worth by taking the ridge of high strategical value which allied forces had failed to do time and time again. The allied forced suffered a loss of 100,000 people over that ridge without ever capturing it. They…show more content…
It's funny; many Canadians don't know the story of our flag (it is fascinating: I know one of the men that picked it, and hearing about that was very interesting). But, that's sort of emblematic of Canada too. We know we are "us," and we are not "them," but even we aren't sure why! We will waver our flag proudly, even if we don't know that much about it. We don't really need to it seems. One of the most important moments in Canadian history was the great Canadian flag debate. This debate was very important because up until 1964, the Canadian flag was pretty much British. Prime Minister Pearson wanted a new flag to represent Canada's national identity and one that was distinctly Canadian. This debate stirred up many nationalistic feelings across the country. Some felt the change was unnecessary because the Red Ensign had stood since 1957 and it was not right to change the flag that many Canadian soldiers had died for. On the other hand, most Canadians felt that the change was required in order to truly make Canada an independent nation and get rid of its British ties. Pearson believed "a flag designed around the Maple leaf will symbolize and be a true reflection of the new Canada". In the end a Canadian flag was introduced that defines who we are as Canadians and it gave us a national identity. Because…show more content…
It was a small thing in act, as the only remaining bit of our Constitution held in the UK was fairly insignificant, but, this law meant that 100% of things were now in Canadian hands. Canada had finally "left home" for good. After discussion with the premiers of each province an agreement had been reached between the provincial and the federal government. Three main points of the agreement were 1. The power to amend the constitution would be brought home to Canada 2. Changes to the constitution could be made if the federal government and seven of the provinces agreed 3. The charter of rights and freedoms would be added to the constitution. All of the provinces agreed to this except Quebec and the deal was

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