Citizenship Ceremony

Ottawa, Wednesday, July 1^st, 2009

I am delighted to be here with you today to share in this memorable moment as you officially join the extended Canadian family.

I know just how important this adventure is, having experienced it myself.

To leave one’s country of origin to put down roots elsewhere is an experience that stays with you forever. You have to reinvent yourself in that new and unknown place and accept the challenges that such a move brings. Often, all we carry with us is hope and courage.

And in this land of unparalleled freedom, hope abounds. In my eyes, Canada is a place where anything is possible, where each and every one of us can help to shape its future and take flight.

A flight that is at times synonymous with innovation, just like the Silver Dart that we see here—the first powered, manned flying machine to leave Canadian soil one hundred years ago.

It is not surprising that people come here from around the world to explore new opportunities and to share in our prospects for the future. Others, like me and my family, come to make a fresh start, safe from injustice and massacres.

Each of our stories is unique. But one thing is certain: we have found here the ideal of a society in which all citizens have equal rights. And I believe that we must not understate this good fortune or pass over it in silence, when barbarism afflicts so many countries and drives so many people to despair.

Your story is now our story, and I encourage you to share it with your fellow citizens and to take every opportunity to enrich our society with your unique contribution.

I believe that democracy rests on our willingness and the opportunity that we have to take action right here, where we live and choose to put down roots.

In other words, right across this generous country, where it is our privilege to dream big and to spread our wings.

Today, you accept this country as your own.

With this country come both rights and responsibilities, including the responsibility to give the very best of yourselves for the good of your loved ones and the entire community.

And so I say to you, “Welcome home!” I wish you and your families every happiness and success.