‘This crosses partisan lines’: Canada Day singalong seeks national unity

A stock photo of a Canada flag. (Pexels/Jared VanderMeer)

VANCOUVER – Vivian Davidson-Castro grew up in Mexico City, where her family was rocked by violence and left in search of a safer life. 20 years later, she’s still grateful to be a Canadian. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t just take a moment to be like, this is amazing,” she said.

Davidson-Castro says seeing what some people are forced to go through, she looks at life in Canada and Vancouver specifically, through a different lens. “I have wonderful opportunities to do things that I love in a beautiful, safe, nature-filled city.”

That’s why on Canada Day, Davidson-Castro knows exactly what she’ll be doing, and when – 10 a.m. sharp.

“I am singing our anthem loud and proud,” she told CTV News. “And I invite everybody to do that in their own province, all together.”

She is part of a grassroots campaign encouraging Canadians to sing “O Canada” together, at the same moment on July 1. The patriotic movement, called “All Together, Canada” is inviting people to sing the national anthem at 10 a.m. PST, or 1 p.m. EST.

It’s an idea Jacqueline Slocombe and her daughter Katharine Casey, came up with last year on Vancouver Island. “This crosses partisan lines,” Slocombe said. “We are Canadians, we love the country, we love who we are. And I think the United States and all the world should know this

The mother daughter duo has set about spreading the word, both online and working the phones the old-fashioned way. “I looked up the chamber of commerce in the Northwest Territories, because I didn’t know who to talk to,” Slocombe said. “There was this lady there, Tracy. She was fantastic. She said this is a great idea,” Slocombe, who lives in Qualicum Beach recalled with a laugh.

Thousands answered the call and organizers are hoping the initiative will be even bigger this year.

You can sign up on their website, then on July 1., belt it out wherever you like, alone, with friends and family, or in a large group. They’re hoping participants will upload videos to social media with the hashtag #Alltogethercanada.

The chorus of Canadians will include Vivian Davidson-Castro.

“We should be united by our common love of calling this country our home, especially at a time when geopolitically things are so chaotic,” Davidson-Castro said. “I understand that a lot of people have grievances, and rightly so. No city, no country, no province is perfect. But we should come together and work through our weaknesses, and do it in a way that is Canadian.”