Did Trump make Canada Day great again? Some observers say, in a way, yes

Britnei Bilhete · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 29, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Just a fewer years ago, Canada Day was going done a superior individuality crisis.

Calls to #CancelCanadaDay were trending successful 2021 aft preliminary findings from a ground-penetrating radar survey astatine a erstwhile residential schoolhouse successful British Columbia had recovered immoderate 200 imaginable unmarked graves at the now-national historical site. In 2017, protesters with Idle No More descended on Parliament Hill, calling for a nationalist time of enactment called UNsettling Canada 150 on the country's 150th birthday.

Enter, Donald Trump and his threats to annex Canada if the state doesn't voluntarily go the 51st state — thing that's dominated headlines this year.

"There is simply a power this twelvemonth suddenly," said historiographer Matthew Hayday.

The menace to Canadian sovereignty has galvanized Canadians, the University of Guelph section seat said. This year, helium expects celebrations with "the full rhetoric of 'elbows up' and championing Canada."

Trump's taunts and precise real tariffs whitethorn beryllium driving a resurgence of patriotism, but portion immoderate Torontonians are heading to Ottawa to celebrate, immoderate Indigenous radical accidental their concerns stay and shouldn't beryllium forgotten. 

"July archetypal can, successful immoderate ways, beryllium a microcosm of a fixed twelvemonth of what the nationalist temper looks like," Hayday said.

A time shaped by tensions

Earlier this year, Canadians crossed the state were boycotting American products and cancelling vacations plans to the U.S. Those sentiments whitethorn not beryllium as potent now, but for galore the sentiment lingers.

Yao Ameyaw told CBC Toronto he's inactive avoiding spending wealth southbound of the border, and he'll beryllium travelling to Ottawa for Canada Day.

"There is simply a spot of atrocious humor whether spoken oregon not, betwixt america and America," helium said.

Patrick Shea and his woman volition besides beryllium heading from Toronto to the nation's capital. He agrees Canada-U.S. relations person "reinvigorated [Canadians] sense of federation and our consciousness of belonging together," but hopes the tensions dice down soon.

"It whitethorn walk similar a kidney stone, but it's going to pass."

For Tira Cardinal, who is Indigenous, the vacation is an accidental to walk clip with friends, but she won't beryllium celebrating.

"I'm going to beryllium wearing an orangish garment connected Canada Day," she said, adding that she isn't amazed Indigenous issues aren't beforehand of caput for galore Canadians this year.

"People hop connected the bandwagon for a batch of things. Unfortunately, I deliberation that's however radical successful nine are going to be."

Brianna Olson-Pitawanakwat, a subordinate of the subordinate of Wiikwemkoong Unceded First Nation, said she'll beryllium spending the time rallying astir her assemblage and highlighting their resilience and resistance.

"There's been a large propulsion with what's happening southbound of the borderline for Canada to benignant of relish successful this hyper-nationalism. I deliberation it's truly important to admit that similar the boundaries of what we telephone Canada contiguous would not beryllium without Indigenous peoples."

Recent bills could determination the pendulum of nationalist opinion 

Already, the surge successful patriotism — and protectionism — has led to threats against Indigenous sovereignty, Olson-Pitawanakwat said. 

She compares Bill 5 successful Ontario to Stephen Harper's Bill C-45, a controversial omnibus measure that made changes to the Indian Act, the Environmental Protections Act and Navigation Protection Act to make it easier for pipelines to beryllium approved connected Indigenous onshore without the consent of affected First Nations.

That 2012 measure was portion of what sparked the Idle No More movement that drove protests crossed the state and calls for Canada Day to beryllium cancelled.

Olson-Pitawanakwat says, similar C-45, the Ford government's Bill 5 will besides let the authorities to expedite and o.k. vigor task successful Indigenous territories without section approval, namely erstwhile it comes to mining successful the Ring of Fire.

"We cannot o.k. these things without free, prior-informed consent," Olson-Pitawanakwat said.

Similar tensions are playing retired astatine nationalist level, too. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney has signalled Bill C-5 could beryllium utilized to greenlight and fast-track caller vigor projects, including pipelines, mines and different resource-related initiatives.

There's already fear and pushback successful immoderate Indigenous communities astir what it'll mean for the consultation process — though some Carney and Ford person vowed their governments volition consult.

"Right now, determination is simply a batch much leeway for assorted actors to bash things successful the sanction of Canada," Hayday said. And arsenic a result, "Indigenous concerns much broadly are benignant of getting shunted," helium said.

With the pendulum successful 1 direction, this could beryllium the infinitesimal that it starts to move the different way, Olson-Pitawanakwat said.

"This measure and the effect are huge… and it's lone going to go much present."