Canadian Consul and Trade Commissioner in Guadalajara Stéphane Charbonneau is looking forward to this year’s Canada Day. “On July 1, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation, an important milestone for our nation. This historic year provides us with the unique opportunity to strengthen our sense of what it means to be Canadian and to show it to the world. Our events throughout the year touch on four themes: diversity and inclusiveness, reconciliation with the indigenous peoples, youth and the environment.
Our vision is to bring people together around these themes and inspire them to strengthen the people-to-people ties that are the foundation of the great Canada-Mexico partnership. This is a time to celebrate our shared values, our many achievements, the majesty of our environment and, of course, our place in the world.
But Charbonneau’s message to Canadians living in Jalisco, and specifically in Chapala, is “get involved in your community. I applaud the way the expatriate Canadians get involved …bringing in firefighting equipment, ambulances…. Those who aren’t involved, should get involved in the way that they want to.”
“And of course, celebrate. It’s July 1 and you’re here in Mexico all year long, so let’s celebrate and enjoy this special 150th anniversary year. In Chapala specifically, I look forward to attending my first Canada Day celebration organized by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 182 and the Canadian Club of Lake Chapala.
“Throughout Mexico we are doing this through a close partnership with Destination Canada as well as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and many of its generous and committed members through the Canada 150 committee who are helping support the Chapala event.”
Many other events will be held with support from the 150 committee, including a exhibition of 55 photographs of Canada on the Rejas de Chapultepec (gates surrounding the grounds of Chapultepec Castle) in CDMX during August. Canada is the invited country to the Guanajuato Film Festival held July 21-30. Apart from the screening of Canadian films, there will be conferences on the impact of NAFTA on the film industry with some 15 Canadian film industry institutions present. July 1, Jean Michel Blais will perform a special concert at the Casa del Lago in the Bosque de Chapultepec in CDMX. Blais is a 33-year-old pianist from Montreal whose enchanting instrumental compositions pair melodic pop sensibilities with the breathtaking technical skill of classical minimalism.