As we approach Canada Day on July 1st, it’s worth taking a moment to think of Canada not just as a place, but as something more—a being, a presence, maybe even a good friend. Canada isn’t loud. It doesn’t need to be. It doesn’t puff its chest or make big declarations. Canada just is—steady, kind, complicated, and proudly a work in progress.
Lately, we’ve been forced to look in the mirror. With tensions flaring south of the border, including tariffs and tweets from former U.S. President Trump, we’ve had to re-evaluate what makes us who we are. What holds us together? What defines us beyond political headlines or hockey scores?
Canada, in many ways, is like that quiet neighbour who helps shovel your walk in winter. It’s the friend who brings samosas to the potluck, sings in French and English (and Inuktitut too), and always says “sorry,” even when they’re not at fault. Canada is built on kindness, stitched together by compromise, and coloured in every shade imaginable. It’s the immigrant’s fresh start, the elder’s steady comfort, the child’s wide-open future.
Some days, we argue. We debate, we protest, we reflect. But we also celebrate. We find beauty in the crunch of autumn leaves, the roar of Niagara Falls, the silence of the north. We treasure Timmy’s drive-thru at 7 a.m., a blue canoe on a quiet lake, and the feeling of curling up indoors during a February storm.
Is there one thing that unites us all? Maybe not. But maybe that’s the magic of it. We’re brought together by many things—a belief in fairness, a love for the land, a polite stubbornness that says, “We’ll get through it, together.”