This year we celebrate Canada Day during a time of significant global challenge and multiple crises. It is our very good fortune to live in a caring and nurturing country that values diversity and inclusion, strives to steward our environment and aims to provide economic opportunity for all to reach our full potential.
As we pause and reflect on our collective journey, we see both the ways in which we have progressed but also the work that lies ahead. We acknowledge the remarkable service, sacrifice and community spirit of Canadians from all walks of life as we have endeavoured to support each other through the ongoing hardship of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, inequities have been exposed. None more so than a recognition of historical wrongs as hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children were discovered. The path of reconciliation is long and difficult and continues to require urgent and concerted effort. The relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples is one of kinship. I hope it will serve as a guide as we seek to listen, heal and move forward together.
We see the fragility of democracies around the world. Although ours is a country that welcomes all, decries violence and hate and understands the obligations and opportunities of being global citizens, we must also be vigilant. This Canada Day, let us celebrate but also commit to protecting something that is so precious – our democracy.
—The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
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