COVID-19 reshapes CANADA DAY FESTIVITIES

‘restart, rebuild’

OTTAWA • Large celebrations were replaced in many parts of the nation with backyard gatherings and digital events as Canadians marked a Canada Day unlike any other in the country’s 153-year history.

It has been almost four months since governments ordered businesses closed and urged Canadians to stay home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus with restrictions only recently being eased.

Heading into Canada Day, the country had 104,204 reported cases of COVID-19, including 8,591 deaths and 67,954 recoveries, based on figures that were updated late Tuesday.

Millions have lost their jobs, government spending has skyrocketed to provide emergency relief — planned federal spending alone now tops $174 billion. Demand has also jumped for social services such as food banks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent part of his morning with his family harvesting broccoli at the farm operated by the Ottawa Food Bank.

The organization says demand has levelled out since an initial surge in need during the pandemic, but it now expects another spike once recipients max out payments through the $80-billion Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

Trudeau said this year was not the first time the nation’s birth was celebrated in tough times, pointing to celebrations one year into the Second World War, when there was a message of opportunity amid a crisis.

“That was the reality our parents and grandparents were called to face. That was the challenge to which they rose and this is the country they built,” Trudeau said.

“On this Canada Day, it is our turn. We must now restart and rebuild a Canada for the 21st century. My friends, I know that together we are ready.”