OTTAWA, ON (NEWS1130) – Happy 145th Birthday Canada!

The theme of this Canada Day is “honouring the present and the past.”

Regarding the past, Prime Minister Stephen Harper notes this is also the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 in which Canada won out over the Americans. Harper, of course, also mentioned that Canada and America are the best of friends.

In his Canada Day message, the Governor General David Johnston says that from the moment of Confederation in 1867, Canada has been a unique and challenging experiment. He notes that the nation resembles a giant family that each day displays a commitment to unity, diversity, excellence and equality of opportunity.

One hundred people from 38 different countries are celebrating their first Canada Day weekend as Canucks. They received their citizenship at a special ceremony in Toronto ahead of the country’s birthday.

Dores Giestal, who was born in Portugal, says she’s thrilled to finally have Canadian citizenship. “I’m just going to go out there and I guess scream, ‘I’m a Canadian!’ because I’m really proud to be a Canadian.”

Giestal has lived in Canada for 24 years and gained her citizenship on Friday.

Shahied Gairy came to Canada from Grenada seven years ago and says gaining his citizenship has been a long process. “Some people aren’t fortunate to just come to another country and fall into the same field that they were in before. There are always re-certifications. There are always challenges.”

Vancouver will hold its ceremony later today.

How Canadian are you, eh?

Maclean’s Magazine went across the country trying to find out what makes up a typical Canadian.

At 186 lbs, carrying a 38-inch waist, and bringing in an average $30,000 salary, Canadian men are hardly the svelt, high-rollers they wish they were.

When it comes to politics, Maclean’s Tamsin McMahon tells us in some ways, Canadians are very left.

“[We are] supportive of issues like gay marriage and legalizing marijuana.”

But she says in other ways, we tend to veer to the right.

“More are in favour of reinstating the death penalty and they’re also more in favour on some restrictions on abortion.”

So, how do we shape up in the bedroom?

“Probably not quite what we’d want to boast to our friends, but the average Canadian has sex 1.2 times per week, which is certainly not the most amorous in the world,” adds McMahon.

And look out Don Cherry! Most Canadians want to see fighting banned from hockey.