IN OUR VIEW: On Canada Day, celebrate freedom, together

IN OUR VIEW: On Canada Day, celebrate freedom, together

Published 11:45 am Saturday, June 27, 2026

Canada goose goslings. (Black Press Media files)

This Canada Day, let’s remember that one of the things that defines this country is that we have freedom, together.

Our neighbour down south often acts like they own the trademark on the concept of freedom, but it’s pretty popular elsewhere, here in Canada and around the world.

But how does freedom work, in a big country with many people and their many origins and languages, their many wants and needs?

The Canadian answer is that we’ve muddled through, sometimes with wisdom and foresight, sometimes by trial and error, ever since 1867.

Canada has always been founded on freedom, but also on the idea that freedom by itself was not sufficient. “Peace, order, and good government” was the motto that set us on our journey as an independent country in the first place. Freedom was a precondition for those things, and also dependent on them functioning.

The Canadian understanding of freedom is, in part, the knowledge that it’s a shared project. You can’t be “free” all by yourself, freedom is only a concept within a society. It means liberties but it also means, inevitably, compromise. You are free to speak your mind, but not to harm others. You are free to hold any belief, but not to impose it on your neighbours.

The other Canadian freedoms are the ones we come together to provide – education, health care, a justice system, old age pensions. Take those away, leave everyone to fend for themselves, and we would be far less free.

It’s been noted that there are two birds which exemplify the difference between the two major brands of North American freedom.

The bald eagle, symbol of America, soars alone.

The Canada goose, meanwhile, flocks together. (And is surprisingly feisty when threatened. American tourism operators and liquor producers are discovering what this means when Canadians apply the lesson of their namesake goose.)

We’re a diverse assemblage of peoples who have recognized that there is strength in that diversity. We get ahead by sticking together, working together, squabbling and disagreeing, but understanding that even our disagreements are part of the work.

The project of building a better nation is never complete. We build on the work of those who came before us, and we try to add what we can, in the knowledge that future generations, new Canadians yet to be, will continue to improve and build their better Canada.