Canada Day

You know, it doesn't get any better than this!

Here we are. Thousands of people on Parliament Hill and millions more watching from coast to coast. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh. Outstanding entertainers.

All of us gathered together to celebrate Canada's 130th birthday. To celebrate our achievements as a people and our blessings as a nation.

One hundred and thirty years ago, the Fathers of Confederation reached an agreement with Her Majesty's great-great-grandmother - Queen Victoria - that saw the birth of a new nation on the North American continent - a country called Canada.

If only they could be with us today to see the incredible things we have accomplished together.

We have grown from a colony into one of the seven leading democracies in the world.

We have developed a special genius as a people for adapting to new circumstances and new realities without sacrificing what we hold dear.

We have opened our doors and hearts to people from the world over to come to Canada and join us in building a new kind of nation. One where diversity and pluralism are a source of strength and unity, not conflict and division.

Where our institutions and programs reflect the common values that unite all Canadians: tolerance, compassion, fairness, and sharing.

We have built a nation that the United Nations has selected as the best place in the world to live for the last four years in a row!

I cannot put into words all the things that make me proud of Canada and proud to be Canadian. For me, it is a matter of the heart.

But more important than what Canada means to me, is what Canada means to you - my fellow Canadians. For it is in your hopes and your hearts that we find the real meaning of the Canadian dream.

You hear the Canadian dream in the trembling voices of new Canadians as they take the oath of citizenship.

You know the Canadian dream is at work when more and more children from coast to coast learn French and English as a second language.

You feel the Canadian dream moving aboriginals and non-aboriginals to come together in Sacred Assembly.

The Canadian dream shows itself in the way we care about one another. The inspiring national response to the Red River floods earlier this year and the Saguenay floods last year shows the truth of this.

When one of our peacekeepers reunites a family in a war-torn country, you see the Canadian dream at work in the world.

We see the Canadian dream in action in the work of our artists. Roch Voisine, Margaret Atwood, Michel Tremblay, Shania Twain, and so many more, give voice to our identity and reveal our collective soul.

We see the Canadian dream in action in the selection of our own Chris Hadfield to install the new Canadarm on the International Space Station.

We see the Canadian dream in action when a young man of Jamaican birth from Oakville becomes the fastest man in the world!

Your Majesty, these are the dreams that have inspired generations of Canadians!

Canada has always been a place of endless possibilities and bright tomorrows. The times may have changed, but this spirit of optimism and hope for the future has always been with us - and always will be. It's what makes us special. It's what makes us Canadian.

Today, July 1, is the day that is meant for each of us. This is the day that links us all, in every community, in every province and territory.

Today, 30,000,000 people express the pride of a whole nation - pride in what we have accomplished and in the certainty that our best days still lie ahead.

I am proud today to ask 30,000,000 Canadians to join me in saying "Happy birthday, Canada"!

Thank you very much. Long live Canada!