The Rally on Parliament Hill

Our program started with a Rally for Canada, organized in less than six weeks by naive but enthusiastic volunteers.  In spite of heavy rain, close to 2000 children and other proud Canadians participated.  The rally on Parliament hill on May 5th, 1992 was a success!   The Oath of Allegiance was administered to all participants, an oath normally given solely to new Canadians.  But as successful as the rally was we felt that we should find an ongoing way to encourage young Canadians to express their thoughts and feelings for Canada and that was the start of the Pledge to Canada Program.

The Rally for Canada focused on three specific issues:

1. To introduce the  Pledge to Canada Program which would be carried on through the  school boards across Canada.
2. To participate in a Reaffirmation ceremony of our citizenship.
3. To introduce a new song, "I am Proud to be a Canadian" by Howard and Hilda Melbourne, new Canadians.

The Rally not only benefited all the participants but it allowed us to publicly affirm our belief in Canadian Pride and to create an awareness of the Pledge to Canada Program. The press coverage was gratifyingly extensive - Front page coverage in the Ottawa Sun, and coverage in the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun and Macleans Magazine.

Our Sponsors

We thank our sponsors for their important contributions to the day.

  [ The Pledge to Canada Program ] [ The Rally on Parliament Hill ]

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