It was a perfect day to celebrate our nation.

The sun shone from a clear blue sky on the Peninsula and the thousands who joined with their neighbours to share Canada Day 2009.

And, by and large, everything went without a hitch, from those who participated in the Rock 10K walk, jog and run on East Beach to the line-up of youth entertainers and local and international favourites at the West Beach main stage, topped off by the traditional firework display.

If visitors from other countries were to suppose that Canada Day is all about the partying, they’d be right. But, as with all the best parties, you have to have something to celebrate. Canada is definitely that.

We live in a land still blessed with breathtaking scenery and, in spite of economic fluctuations, opportunities that would be only pipe dreams in more restrictive countries.

Looking beyond hoary stereotypes of frozen wastes and mounted policemen – Canada has often been easier to define by what it’s not than by what it is.

That’s not a bad thing. It is, after all a nation that emerged from the cloak of one empire, yet never quite merged with another.

Toil and battlefield sacrifice won it the right to stand apart and embody its own values; a kinder, gentler nation that could strive to practice tolerance of all cultures and ethnicities without trying to suppress them or submerge them in some kind of melting pot.

Indeed, if Canada has a boiling point, it is a very high one. National character seldom allows for outrage – and the national flaw, rather than arrogance and bellicosity, is politeness.

But where peace, freedom and justice have been threatened on a global scale, Canadians have shown their mettle.

Canadians have made mistakes and will continue to make them. We have tolerated intolerance and subscribed to false notions. But always deeply ingrained in the national character has been a willingness to see the other person’s view and live in peace with our neighbours – and a determination to buckle down and build for a better future.

As long as we can continue to celebrate Canada Day with such good fellowship, it is a spirit that will endure.