“you don’t hear influencers or thought leaders talk as much about being proud of canada … despite 8 in 10 canadians feeling as such,” he told national post in an email.
“it will be interesting to follow what leaders across the country say about canada on july 1.”
recent years have not been great for canada day or for expressions of national pride generally.
in the wake of covid-19 lockdowns, public celebrations of july 1 have never fully recovered to their pre-pandemic levels, in part due to official notions that the country didn’t deserve celebration.
in 2021, the most notable canada day commemoration on parliament hill was a cancel canada day rally organized by the first nations activist group idle no more.
and last year, three major canadian cities (calgary, vancouver and toronto) flirted with cancelling official canada day festivities, although all of them reversed their plans in the face of public outrage.
in calgary, the cited reason was that a traditional canada day celebration would be inappropriate given that it was the 100th anniversary of the chinese immigration act, a 1923 measure to dramatically reduce chinese migration to canada.
“for many calgarians this is a day of mourning or reflection,” read a city of calgary press statement.