Reception in Honour of the Founders of the Trans Canada Trail

Rideau Hall, Thursday, September 24, 2009

I am delighted to welcome to Rideau Hall women and men who share the conviction that “however tall the mountain, there is always a road”, as the proverb says. And that road connects us to one another along paths of friendship. 

From the birch bark canoes of the first inhabitants of this country to the advent of railroads and telecommunications, Canadians have explored the many ways of overcoming the distances that can separate us.

In one of the world’s largest countries, comprising nearly 10 million square kilometres, it is not surprising that the idea of a trail reaching from coast to coast to coast would develop in our minds and in our hearts.

Nor is it surprising that this idea took root and gained in momentum thanks to the joint efforts of a geographer and transportation specialist, Pierre Camu, and an energetic builder and project manager, Bill Pratt, to whose endeavour we are paying tribute today.

One from Quebec and the other from Alberta; one, a consultant, and the other, an administrator. Both men worked together for the Canada 125 Corporation, the organization set up to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.

Quite naturally, the Corporation became a foundation on their initiative.

A foundation that would oversee a tremendous undertaking: the creation of the world’s longest recreational trail.

Today, the Trans Canada Trail is a path cutting across fields, a bridge spanning a river, a trail through the heart of a forest or skirting the foot of a mountain, a lake crossed by paddle stroke. It is a range of diverse, breathtaking landscapes. And it is so much more.

It is a chain of solidarity.

It is a collective endeavour.

It is a source of national pride.

The Trans Canada Trail is an initiative as imposing as Canada itself: ambitious, grandiose, a project whose success depends on the collaboration and generosity of countless volunteers, donors and partners from all ten provinces and three territories, many of whom are here with us today.

I would also like to congratulate and thank the representatives of the organizations responsible for the trail in each province and territory, as well as the volunteers and everyone else who has had a hand in building, maintaining and promoting the trail in communities right across our country.

And I believe that the most fitting tribute that we could pay to the two trailblazers we are honouring today is to complete the colossal task of co-ordination and co-operation that they set in motion.

To all of you who, in one way or another, have made the dream of Pierre Camu and Bill Pratt a reality and continued this larger-than-life trail, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for this legacy that is an invitation to appreciate, preserve and respect the beauty of our vast, amazing country.