Canada Day a time to reflect, plan for better days

Canada Day is different this year. As we celebrate the best of our country, we are also facing up to a history that is shamefully distant from the Canada we want. Looking into our dark past is difficult. There is a sense of sorrow at a time when we are used to celebration.

The Chamber is committed to carrying as much burden as we can to try and correct the mistakes of the past. It's the right thing to do, and we encourage all Canadians to help lift the weight that has far too long been put on Indigenous people.

Millions of us have arrived on this land since 1867, escaping oppression or seeking a chance to build better a better life for our families. We can no longer ignore that part of the cost of those new opportunities came at the expense of the people who were already here.

This Canada Day, let's again embrace the best of what it means to be Canadian. We can open our arms, our hearts and ears. Reconciliation will take time. We must be patient and we must build into our lives the changes necessary for a better, more inclusive future.