This year is being celebrated at Canada’s 150th birthday – but most people don’t have a clear idea of what the political and legal history is behind the “birth” of our nation or how the celebration reflects on the history of Native populations.

Indigenous people in Canada largely consider themselves Natives first and Canadians second. The 150th anniversary of Canada represents 150 years of colonialization and hardship. There is also a sentiment that Canada day ignores the history of indigenous people dating back thousands of years. 

The holiday spirit was alive and well at the St. Margaret Centre on Friday, December 30th.  In celebration of our first year in business we hosted a free community staking party.  The turn out was amazing.  Our best estimates were that we had somewhere between 150-200 people hit the ice.  Young and old alike were able to enjoy the skate and many families took advantage of our 'stollers permitted' policy..  The free hot chocolate (especially the colored marshmallows) and candy canes were also a hit and by the end of the skate there was barely a crumb left. We got a tremendous amount of positive feedback from families in the community.  The event was such a success we are definitely planning to do it again next year.  Bring on 2017!!