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<\/p>\nCarney said Canadians have stood strong and unflinching in the face of global challenges, \u201cworking together, resolutely, to build our future. Because in a crisis, fortune favours the bold.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe founding idea of Canada is simple: unity does not require uniformity,\u201d he said in French.<\/p>\n
In Quebec, a separation movement has been re-emerging ahead of the province\u2019s October election.<\/p>\n
Carney was scheduled to deliver a speech at Canada Day celebration in Edmonton Wednesday evening. It was to have been a rare Alberta appearance for a prime minister on Canada Day, and comes as Albertans are set to vote this fall on whether to remain in Canada, or hold a binding referendum on separation.<\/p>\n
His spokeswoman said weather conditions in Ottawa prevented his plane from taking off, and he would not make it to Edmonton on time to deliver his speech there and his appearance was cancelled.<\/p>\n
Thunderstorms rolled through Ottawa for most of Wednesday afternoon, bringing strong winds, extremely heavy rain, lightning and threats of hail. More than a dozen flights out of the Ottawa airport were cancelled due to the weather.<\/p>\n
The prime minister began the day\u2019s celebrations on Wednesday serving pancakes in his own riding in the Ottawa suburbs. <\/p>\n
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took part in Canada Day events in Alberta, and posted on social media that he was among those \u201cproudly celebrating our country\u2019s 159th birthday with the western spirit of hard work, freedom, family, and community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s speech in Ottawa also paid homage to Jeremy Hansen, the only Canadian to make the historic trip around the dark side of the moon earlier this year aboard NASA\u2019s Artemis 2 mission.<\/p>\n
Hansen took the stage after Carney, greeting a crowd of several thousand people at the day\u2019s main festivities, held in a field at LeBreton Flats Park due to construction on Parliament Hill.<\/p>\n
He spoke about the teamwork of the Artemis crew during the lunar mission, and said he was proud to wear a Canadian mission patch during the journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I look out at all of you, I see the same: A country powerful, together as one \u2014 like a crew \u2014 through shared sacrifice, mutual reliance and a commitment to a collective vision much larger than any single one of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Carney and other dignitaries wore portable fans around their necks during the noon ceremony as the mercury soared.<\/p>\n
Shortly after things wrapped up on the main stage and the weather worsened, some attendees ran for cover to the nearby War Museum. Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning, and cautioned that the weather could bring hail and flash flooding.<\/p>\n
Wednesday was Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour\u2019s first Canada Day as the King\u2019s representative, and she said in a video message that she was always very proud to identify herself as Canadian as her career took her around the world.<\/p>\n
Arbour said Canada is a country that \u201cshines in many spheres\u201d but is realistic about the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a country always striving to do better,\u201d she said, giving the example of ongoing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s celebrate together what unites us, not in spite of our differences, but through them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau was among the dignitaries seated at the front of the stage of the midday celebrations. He did not address the crowd but stopped to pose for photos as dozens clustered near the exit after the festivities ended.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s celebrations touched heavily on U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated talk of annexing Canada. Miller said that was one of the moments that brought Canadians together over the past year, along with more joyful times such as Canada\u2019s winning goal in last Sunday\u2019s World Cup match.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a beautiful project in the making,\u201d he said, adding that the U.S. is \u201csabre-rattling and behaving in a way that we don\u2019t recognize what was our best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
American Ambassador Pete Hoekstra made no reference to that rhetoric in a written message Wednesday morning. He instead hailed the close U.S. relationship with Canada, saying the ongoing co-hosting of the FIFA World Cup \u201cis just the latest example of our collaboration fostering international success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said the holiday was a chance to reflect on the freedoms people often take for granted, and the contributions of \u201ctwo founding peoples and the Indigenous peoples that were here before us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a time to have fun, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada Day is a chance to go out and eat some hotdogs, drink beer, listen to some tunes and just relax,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carney said Canadians have stood strong and unflinching in the face of global challenges, \u201cworking together, resolutely, to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-774968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}