Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala

Ottawa, Saturday, May 1, 2010

I truly believe in artists’ ability to touch the very heart of humanity and to help us rediscover the power of hope.

The people we are honouring tonight are of that same calibre.

They found words, voices, gestures, and rhythms that transcend borders and generations, and become universal.

These artists reveal to us the universe that lives inside them, inviting us to join them and to imagine the world as big, as beautiful and as rich as their own.

What they give us to see, to hear, to feel and to think about brings us closer to understanding the precious, unpredictable, mysterious and unique character of life.

That is why we say that the performing arts are living arts.

Let us thank the artists we are honouring tonight for the strength of their presence in our lives, and allow them to again dazzle us with their presence in the spotlight.

After travelling far and wide for five years in this vast, impressive country of ours, Jean-Daniel and I like to say that what truly makes Canada are the men and women who bring passion and compassion to what they create in this nation.

We will always remember and stand by these words, and celebrate this as Canada’s most promising, unifying and greatest strength.

Thank you.