Canada Day 2025: A reflection

On this, the weekend before Canada Day, I could list a hundred reasons why I love living in this country. I could also list about a hundred problems, but it wouldn’t lessen my joy in living here.

I get that not everyone has the same blessings and privileges I have. If I were 25 and trying to establish a career or buy my first home in Canada, I may well feel very different.

Same if I were a visible minority, an Indigenous person, or a recent immigrant.

The promise of Canada doesn’t resonate quite so deeply for many of these people.

And I respect that.

But at the same time, I am thankful for what we do have in Canada, for living in a country as free and beautiful as any in the world.

I am thankful for not having to run to a bomb shelter many times a day, or seeing my home turned to rubble or my family killed because some asshole doesn’t think we have the right to exist.

I am thankful to live in a Canada that believes its citizens deserve at least basic health care, public pensions, and education, even if that support sometimes falls woefully short in practice.

And in my case, I am particularly thankful to live on this beautiful edge of Canada, among people who are as kind and welcoming as could be, and in two languages no less.

I wish everyone whatever version of Canada Day makes sense to you—if not an outwardly joyous one because of what we lack, at least a quietly grateful one for what we do have.