EDITORIAL: Torontonians have much to celebrate this Canada Day

For example, there’s the ongoing World Cup of Soccer, where teams from 32 countries (each with an identifiable fan base in the city), are competing for the privilege of being crowned world champion. You can see the flags flying from homes, businesses and vehicles. You can see people gathered around televisions to watch the games. And you can definitely see and hear the jubilant celebrations when a team secures victory.

Canada is a nation of immigrants. And nowhere else is this country’s diversity as visible as it is in Toronto, where nearly half of the population first learned a language other than English at home.

We went to a citizenship ceremony and got the perspective of a number of new Canadians, including North York’s Clive Townsend, who spoke of the "privilege" citizenship granted him.

In this country, we have much to be thankful for. Rights that we normally take for granted can be harder to secure elsewhere.

So in honour of Canada Day, we’d like to throw out a couple of challenges.

To the new Canadian: in the coming months, make an effort to find out more about your new community and city and all it has to offer. The summer season is a wonderful time to do this. There are plenty of places, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, the CN Tower or Fort York, to visit and get a sense of the community’s history and characteristics.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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To the more deeply-rooted Torontonian: use your time this summer to attend a couple of cultural events with a goal of finding out more about that particular culture and what it brings to our city. Again, there are plenty of options to choose from, including such festivals as Salsa on St. Clair, Taste of the Danforth, and Scotiabank Caribana.

What better way to evolve as a community? As newer immigrants become more comfortable in their new home, and the more deeply-rooted citizens gain a greater understanding of the diverse cultures that make up this city, one of Toronto’s strengths – its multiculturalism – will get even stronger.

Happy Canada Day, everyone.