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June 24, 2008
This year, we proudly celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city of Québec. Building on the creation of Port Royal in Acadia in 1604, that is over four centuries of a Francophone presence in North America!
On this June 24, 2008, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, celebrated with great joy in Quebec and in Francophone communities all across Canada, we recognize the spirit of adventure that pushed French explorers and settlers to cross an ocean in the hope of finding a new land and of building a better future there. We also remember the people of this land who welcomed them, intrigued at first, but willing to share this generous land, their cultures, their languages and their knowledge with men and women they were not expecting.
We should all take time to reflect on the importance of this relationship, of that decisive meeting between two civilizations, of what happened next and of what we will now do. May this festive day bring us closer together and be a promise for our future.
Happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day!
Michaëlle Jean
-30-
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