In Canada Day message, Trudeau says Canadian flag represents promise of a better life
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for unity amid a potentially divisive national holiday on Friday, using to call for deepened commitment to Canadian values like hope and kindness.
The prime minister said the date marking Canada's 155th anniversary of confederacy offers an opportunity to embrace the values the Maple Leaf represents, adding the flag is more than a symbol.
"It's also a promise -- a promise of opportunity, a promise of safety for those fleeing violence and war, and a promise of a better life," he said.
An unprecedented level of security met locals and visitors alike in the national capital Friday for the first in-person Canada Day events in Ottawa since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police had a highly visible presence throughout the downtown core, with groups of officers walking the streets and cars framing the entrance to the LeBreton Flats Park where the main celebrations are set to take place. Visitors had to walk through airport-style metal detectors and have their bags searched before entering.
Among the earliest arrivals were Donna Marzolf and her 12-year-old daughter Alexis Livingstone, who travelled from Calgary to take part in the celebration and secure front-row seats to the main stage. Alexis, sporting a maple leaf t-shirt and carrying a small Canadian flag, said she was particularly excited to see her twin sister Sophia perform O Canada at the festivities as part of the Calgary Children's Choir.
The twins's mother said the day was a celebration of "peace and safety and freedom -- though that kind of has a bad connotation right now."
Karen MacDonald flew from Ladner, B.C., for her first visit to Ottawa.
"It's totally thrilling to me to be here in person," she said. "So many different people in the city are all wearing red and white, with flags. It makes my tummy hurt with pride."
Along with people celebrating the holiday, a convoy of protesters opposed to COVID-19 restrictions -- who often drape themselves in Canadian flags -- are planning events in Ottawa on Friday. But the National War Memorial, which was the site of a large gathering Thursday evening, was quiet early on Canada Day as a handful of visitors took photos.
Small lineups of people were screened by metal detectors at the entrances to Parliament Hill as a calm but celebratory crowd wandered through downtown streets that were closed to vehicles.
Trudeau's official holiday message, released Friday morning, described Canada as strong because of the diversity among its roughly 38 million residents.
"No matter what our faith is, where we were born, what colour our skin is, what language we speak or whom we love, we are all equal members of this great country," he said. "And today we celebrate the place we all call home."
In an apparent reference to the treatment of Indigenous people, including at residential schools, the prime minister spoke about Canada's "historic wrongs," saying while we can't change history, we can work to build a better future.
of her own calling on Canadians to work together to build an inclusive society.
She urged people to be kind to each other, learn from one another and listen to Indigenous Peoples, on whose land we live.
The Governor General is due to give a speech at formal celebrations in Ottawa on Friday, which will also be attended by the prime minister.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ǿմý
BREAKING
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
11-year-old boy dies after subway surfing in NYC
An 11-year-old boy died Monday after subway surfing in New York City. He's the fourth person to die from subway surfing in the city this year.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Top Hezbollah commander among 12 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, vowing to press on with a new military campaign until it is able to secure the area around the Lebanese border.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
Local Spotlight
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.