Canada Day festivities kicked off across the country. In downtown Ottawa, people witnessed a special fly past in honour of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 100th anniversary.

The fly past included the Lancaster and B-25 Mitchell from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland joined festivities in Ottawa while prime minister Justin Trudeau addressed Canadians in a video message.

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Trudeau didn’t attend the events in Ottawa because he was in Newfoundland and Labrador where July 1 is known as Memorial Day.

Trudeau was attending a ceremony where an unknown soldier from the province was laid to rest in a black granite tomb.

Hundreds gathered in St. John’s to pay their respects to the man, who was returned home more than 100 years after his death on the battlefields of France.

In Newfoundland, Canada Day is a time to remember the hundreds of young men from the Newfoundland regiment who died during the disastrous battle at Beaumont-Hamel in the First World War.

In his video message posted to social media, Trudeau said he hopes Canadians are celebrating the people, land and the story that is the country.

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“It’s a story that began more than 157 years ago with Indigenous peoples who’ve called this land home since time immemorial. It’s a story of sacrifice. When Canadian soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, they knew they were risking their lives. But freedom, even for those across an ocean. Even for generations of people they’d never meet, was worth fighting for.”

In Ottawa Algonquin elder Claudette Commanda opened the events with an Indigenous reflection. With a small wooden canoe on stage beside her, Commanda spoke about its importance to Indigenous peoples. Using it as a symbol of hope and healing, she said Indigenous and Canadian children will journey together.