Yellowknife, NWT, Thursday, December 8, 2011

Thank you for welcoming my wife, Sharon, and me to the Legislative Assembly and to the Northwest Territories for our first official visit.

While this is the first time that I have been here as governor general, it is not my first visit. More than 25 years ago, Sharon and I spent a week with our three youngest daughters at Max Ward’s wilderness camp on the Coppermine River. I particularly recall one day, when we sat watching thousands of caribou migrating past us at a leisurely pace; and I remember the excitement of our children as they caught Arctic char and grayling in the river within seconds of each cast.

It was an unforgettable visit, one that demonstrated to us something of the magic of the North.

Of course, many who have travelled north have become converts to northern ways and to the natural beauty of this place. Indeed, I only have to look around the legislature for a prime example: the great Canadian painter A. Y. Jackson. He was fascinated by the North and its landscape, which inspired many of his works. I had one of his northern paintings in my office at McGill—visitors would be struck by its unusual colours—which formed a translucence that they had never seen before. They called it ‘surreal’. When I first travelled to the North I saw that it was not surreal, but in fact real.

I understand this legislature is home to the largest collection of A. Y. Jackson paintings outside of a gallery or museum. These works are part of the heritage of the Northwest Territories, and I am pleased to see this legacy being so well cared for.

It is important that we look back to where we have been, while looking forward to where we are going. Our challenge is to simultaneously hold past, present and future in mind, to respect our traditions while moving ahead together, and to truly ‘see things whole’, in E.B. White’s marvellous phrase.

We do this by respecting the past, by paying close attention to the immediate needs of the present, and by anticipating the challenges of the future.

Today in the North, as in the rest of Canada, there are a number of spheres where we must work particularly hard to find common ground and work together.

One is in the realm of learning, which is essential to our future wellbeing. One of the real tests of our success as a society comes in how well we develop the talents of our people, and how we use knowledge to improve the human condition.

It is so important to provide every child and every citizen with the chance to grow and to learn. This means listening to and supporting the needs of communities, and always striving to provide equality of opportunity—and that includes the opportunity to excel. At its core, human development is about expanding choices, and learning is the means by which we achieve that end.

On this note, I am pleased to be meeting with Aboriginal students in Fort Smith during my visit, and I look forward to learning more about the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. This program demonstrates an important commitment to equality of opportunity and to excellence, which have defined our history as Canadians and will be vital to our future success.

There are many other spheres in which we must strive to see things whole, and to view our work not in terms of ‘either/or’, but rather in a spirit of ‘both/and’. I have already talked about human development, and another major challenge for the Northwest Territories is to achieve the sustainable development of your natural resources.

Each of us shares an appreciation for the importance and beauty of the ecosystems and landscapes of the North, and our task is to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations—of our children. Again, we must do both, rather than one or the other.

I was chair of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy when it was established in 1988, and the need for sustainable development has only become more apparent in the intervening years. The challenge is particularly acute in the North, with its vast natural resources and ecologically sensitive landscapes, and northerners can lead the way for all of Canada in responding in a balanced way to our economic, social and environmental imperatives.

As with so many of the challenges we face, our success will be determined by our ability to collaborate and to innovate. We must respect tradition while embracing new and better ways of doing things, and we must work together to find common solutions.

In this regard, northerners have long set an example for others. Through necessity and by inclination, the people of the North have worked co-operatively for generations, solving problems and creating new possibilities together. This legislature and the system of government that exists in the Northwest Territories is a wonderful example, being both thoroughly modern and steeped in tradition. Your way of working promotes consensus and collaboration, ensuring that each member of the legislature participates in problem-solving and serves the public interest.

I have no doubt that the people of the Northwest Territories will continue to work together in both new and old ways.

In so many respects, this remarkable place captures the imagination of Canadians, and Sharon and I are no exception. We, too, are captured by this magical land. Never underestimate the power of the example you set in the North, nor your ability to inspire Canada—and the world—to change for the better.

My predecessor, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, once said in this very legislature: “…being here, one truly has a sense of how much the North defines how we see ourselves as Canadians and how we feel our landscape. So much of our identity is found in the North, or the idea of the North.”

It is not just the famous ‘idea of North’ that we are fascinated with, but also the ideas of North. Your creativity and ability to bring about positive change can inspire us all.

I hope that our visit serves to reinforce the important place these territories hold within the rest of the country. I look forward to learning more about your lives in this remarkable place, and to working with you to build a smarter, more caring Canada.

Thank you.