Juno News - Canada Day should be a reminder of just how great our country is

00:00:00.000 It's unfortunate that there will not be any official in-person Canada Day celebrations on

00:00:11.460 July 1st. Too bad that we do not have this opportunity to come together. Yes, we've got

00:00:17.060 the federal government and other various organizations and levels of government coming

00:00:20.840 up with their virtual celebrations, but we all know it's not the same thing. I don't think

00:00:26.540 they'll have great turnouts. I'm not going to do it, because quite frankly, a lot of us are tired

00:00:31.340 of doing all these Zoom meetings and video conferencing and everything. We're just going

00:00:36.080 to take a pass. And that's too bad, because Canada Day, it is the one event every year that's for

00:00:43.220 everybody. There are various holidays and observations and celebrations that are for

00:00:48.720 different people, depending on what religion you are or specific groups and so forth. Canada Day,

00:00:53.520 though, it's for all of us, for everyone to get together. My favorite Canada Day celebrations to

00:00:59.860 go to are in East York, East York Canada Day, which is, it's now a part of Toronto, but before

00:01:04.880 amalgamation, it was its own city nestled between old Toronto and Scarborough, and it's still got this

00:01:10.320 small town vibe to it. And I just love going to the parade and the festivities after, and there are

00:01:15.920 families, they're all hanging out together, people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and they're

00:01:21.180 just smiling and cheering, waving the flag. They've got their faces painted. The kids are just up there,

00:01:26.740 you know, marching and doing their karate class demonstrations, and there's the bands that they're

00:01:31.600 all in. I mean, I think it is just phenomenal, and I will confess, as I get older, I'm more likely to

00:01:37.600 have a bit of a tear come to my eye watching these Canada Day parades. I think they're just the best.

00:01:43.140 And it's too bad we don't have one this year, of all years, because we have had the coronavirus

00:01:48.060 pandemic going on for months, and we've had conversations that, well, how shall I say it,

00:01:54.280 they suggest that Canada is a divided country, that we don't necessarily have all that much in

00:02:00.720 common with our neighbours, that we are something of a broken country. And I think we need an

00:02:05.880 opportunity to all come together and remember, hey, this is actually a great country, our similarities

00:02:11.960 matter more than our differences, and we all have a lot in common. And let's be honest, our neighbours,

00:02:17.540 our co-workers, extended family, friends, we're all getting along the best we can. A great country,

00:02:24.260 happy Canada Day to you all, and I look forward to the next time when we can have in-person Canada Day

00:02:31.000 festivities.

Juno News - June 28, 2020