A gull flies past two men as they watch the setting sun as smoke from wildfires fills the sky over the Ottawa River, June 29, 2023, in Ottawa, Ontario.Adrian Wyld/The Associated Press
Thousands of Canadians donned the national colours, offered rousing cheers for patriotic speeches and took in artistic and cultural exhibits across the country on Saturday at Canada Day festivities held from coast to coast.
Many of the festivities held in honour of the 156th anniversary of Canada’s confederation marked a return to normalcy after years worth of cancellations prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But some regions still had to celebrate without traditional trappings like fireworks, as ongoing wildfires and their resulting smoke prompted several municipalities to nix the displays due to poor visibility and compromised air quality.
The most prominent Canada Day celebrations unfolded in Ottawa, with the main entertainment taking place at LeBreton Flats just west of the downtown core.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon were on hand for the morning round of events at the site.
“People are coming to Canada to proudly call it their home and build their lives and our communities and our country, all together,” Trudeau told a cheering crowd.
He said the country has withstood challenges, like wildfires and war in Europe, by showing compassion, engagement, openness and democracy.
“That’s Canada’s advantage in the world now more than ever,” he said.
In her speech to Canadians, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said she is proud to live in a country working on national and global challenges while striving to be better.
“If we put in the hard work, if we do so together, there is nothing we cannot do,” she said.
The morning event also featured musical performances, public oaths of citizenship from newcomers hailing from France and Cameroon, and remarks from Ontario-born astronaut Jeremy Hansen who is slated to travel to the moon as part of a NASA mission next year. A nighttime show at LeBreton Flats will feature performances by Jann Arden, Roxane Bruneau and Aysanabee among others.
Ottawa’s Sparks Street was packed with vendors and Canada Day party-goers at midday, with music ringing through the area and patrons filling local bars and restaurants.
The city’s big pyrotechnics show is set to go ahead at 10 p.m. ET despite concerns about air quality and smoke over the last several days, but that is not the case in all of Canada’s major cities.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority cited rising costs for cancelling its fireworks display last year, and said the move is now permanent.
Around Ontario, including in Niagara Falls and Pembroke, shows are being cancelled because of the effects from ongoing wildfires.
Fresh off a firework ban during St-Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations last weekend, the party will be particularly muted in Quebec, where wildfires are still raging out of control and fire bans remain in place.
Montreal and Quebec City have cancelled firework shows to stand in solidarity with northern regions of the province that continue to burn.
Several of the city’s on-Island suburbs said they were cancelling Canada Day festivities due to the poor air quality.
But a daytime Canada Day parade went ahead in downtown Montreal for the first time since 2019.
People lined the dozen blocks of the parade route despite rainy weather to watch participants representing more than a dozen cultural communities, including large Iranian and Chinese contingents.
Organizer Nick Cowen said it felt good to bring the parade back.
“Once you’re on the ground, once you’re walking through, it brings back memories, I’ve been doing this since I was 13,” he said in an interview before the parade started. “It’s a little bit smaller, but it doesn’t matter. Look at all these people here, they’re all living together and they’re all living in harmony.”
For Adriana Shervan, who was watching the parade with her mother, it was an opportunity to celebrate Canada’s freedoms and diversity.
“My parents are from Iran, but I was born here. I love the fact that this place is culturally diversified and appreciates all cultures and that’s what makes this nation beautiful,” she said.
Meanwhile, a muted celebration took place under cloudy skies at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square, where Indigenous drummers were dispersed throughout the area. Members of the crowd — many clad in red and white and sporting temporary maple leaf tattoos — clapped and waved Canadian flags through the performances.
Elsewhere, festivities in the historic port city of Halifax played out under a thick shroud of fog. The conditions prompted the cancellation of a performance by the Snowbirds, the Canadian Forces aerobatic flight demonstration team.
Maj. Brett Parker, the team’s leader and pilot of Snowbird 1, said he was disappointed the air show was shelved.
“But it’s great to be in downtown Halifax meeting people,” he said as he signed autographs on Founders Wharf. “They’re so excited and enthusiastic about Canada Day, as am I.”
The events this year in Halifax, which included free concerts, were developed in collaboration with Indigenous communities to honour the Mi’kmaq Nation. Ashley Augustine, a member of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, said she was thrilled with the program.
“It’s amazing that we’re being recognized on Canada Day,” said Augustine, manager of the Treaty Truckhouse, which was selling handmade Mi’kmaq items on the waterfront. “We’re finally out in front …. It definitely is about time.”
Halifax resident John Kenny said he took his family downtown because they “didn’t want to be cooped up in the house, and we wanted to be involved.”
His partner, Mace Guarin, said Saturday marked her second Canada Day as a Canadian citizen.
“I’m very thankful and grateful for this country because it gave me a better life,” said Guarin, who came to Canada from the Philippines seven years ago.