I hope all of you had a great longish Canada Day weekend. I say longish, because maybe you took off Monday, or maybe you didn't. Either way, yesterday was Canada Day. I love Canada Day. Every year I take out my giant flag and bring it with me wherever possible in celebration of this place.

This past Saturday I took it to Electric Island. And what I will say is that I saw a noticeable uptick in house and techno fans wearing Canadiana. Everything from Blue Jays hats to t-shirts saying things about the direction of elbows. This is not at all surprising. We know what happened this year. And the result is that Canadian patriotism is surging.

According to Leger and the National Post, 83% of people surveyed in June 2025 said they're proud to be Canadian. And according to Angus Reid, who polled people in February of this year, nearly 60% of Canadians said they have a "deep emotional attachment" to country. This is what happens someone punches you in the face. You get your back up and seek out solidarity.

But when channelled correctly, this can be a positive thing. What we need it to do is to continue to shake us out of complacency. The status quo puts us at risk and accepts mediocrity. We need to diversify our economy (away from the US), build with the greatest of urgency, and think of ourselves as an emerging global superpower.

Happy (belated) Canada Day, everyone.

Cover photo by Mvrkle on Unsplash