Waterloo, Monday, September 23, 2013 

Thank you for your warm welcome. I am delighted to join you on this, the 50th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Waterloo.

Let me also say how sorry my wife, Sharon, and I were to hear about the devastating fire that struck the St. Jacob’s farmer’s market earlier this month.

I know that some vendors are back in business already, but I also know the rebuilding process will be long and costly. Allow me to extend my best wishes to all who are working hard to rebuild this important community gathering place. 

Now let me return to the anniversary at hand. From day one, the Rotary Club of Waterloo and its counterparts in Kitchener have been co-operating on fundraising and charitable activities, so this truly is a community-wide celebration.

What could be more appropriate for the members of Rotary, who do so much to help people in our communities?

As your motto succinctly puts it, Service Above Self.

As you may know, I was very fortunate to be the recipient of a Rotary Foundation scholarship back in the 1960s, which enabled me to study law at Cambridge in England.

One of my happy responsibilities during my fellowship was to visit Rotary Clubs across England to talk about Canada. I used to end those speeches with an old song from Newfoundland and Labrador, the chorus of which went:

When I first came to this land
I was not a wealthy man
But the land was sweet and good
And I did what I could.

The land was sweet and good / And I did what I could. These lines could be applied equally to those hardy folk who settled here in southwestern Ontario, and indeed to each one of you who works so hard to make this a better place to live.

I will always be grateful to Rotary for the support it gave to me during my student days—a wonderful and important time in my life that helped to determine so much to follow.

I know I am not the only one who feels this way. This organization’s impact has been felt far and wide by so many people—both here in Kitchener-Waterloo and around the world. 

I need only mention your truly remarkable efforts to eradicate polio.

Not just here in the community or even in Canada, I should add, but worldwide.

The ambition is stunning, and what is even more impressive is the extent to which you have succeeded in this global effort, which began in 1979 when Rotary International took on the fight against polio with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines.

Today, countless people around the world are in good health thanks to the caring shown by the members this organization. Polio is an entirely preventable disease, and together, Rotarians have helped to do just that.

I should note that Rotary Club members in Kitchener-Waterloo have been helping polio victims for many decades—long before the cause was taken up internationally, in fact.

The origins of this effort  are highlighted in Scott Moss’s brief history of the Rotary Club, which I read on your website.

As he points out, back in 1923, there were no treatment facilities in this area for polio victims.

However, those early Rotarians were quick to answer the call, volunteering to drive local children to Toronto for treatment.

Keep in mind that was before the 401 was built, and the drive took about three-and-a-half hours each way.

This is not to mention the one-and-a-half hours it took to administer treatment.

It is truly admirable what the members of this organization have done for others. Rotary began by acting locally, but today your impact is truly global.

For many of those who have been on the receiving end of your kindness, it is nothing less than life-changing.

I would also like to point out that over the years, Rotary has also been an important venue for sharing new ideas and initiatives, and a forum for building the necessary momentum for change.

In fact, it was during an appearance before the Rotary Club of Kitchener-Waterloo in 1956 that Ira Needles famously gave a speech calling for 150 000 engineers for Canada.

As you may know, Mr. Needles was the president of B. F. Goodrich Canada at the time, and he was having trouble finding enough engineers to work in his tire factory.

He also knew that Canada as a nation needed a greater focus on science and engineering—recall this was the time of the Cold War. 

By way of a solution, he proposed a co-operative model of post-secondary education that would pair classroom study with on-the-job workforce experience.

Eventually, this program grew into the co-op program at the University of Waterloo, with Ira Needles as its founding chairman of the board and, later, chancellor.

Today, of course, both the co-op program and the university are among the great successes in the Waterloo Region, and it is interesting to consider the role Rotary played in helping to generate support and enthusiasm for Ira Needles’ innovative idea.

In these two stories—of Rotary’s fight to eradicate polio and of its role as a forum for  catalyzing new ideas—we see the enduring value of this organization. The work that you do is both smart and caring, making a real contribution to the betterment of this community and of our country and the world at large.

When I was installed as governor general, I entitled my remarks “A Smart and Caring Nation: A Call to Service” in the hope of elevating the importance of serving others.

I made this call to service because, despite the challenges we face, I believe we are incredibly fortunate to have inherited and to live in this country. And I hope to encourage all Canadians to give back in some way, according to their wishes and abilities.

We should give back, because the need in our communities is real, and it is growing.

We should give, because this widening gap—the gap between what is needed and what can be provided—threatens the most vulnerable among us.

And we should give, because this gap threatens one of our most cherished values as Canadians: equality of opportunity.

As engaged and dedicated members of your community, you know all of this, and as importantly, you have a habit of acting upon this knowledge.

Service clubs such as Rotary are a model for building the country of which we dream.

I would like to thank you for your service to this community and to Canada. Congratulations on this wonderful anniversary occasion.

And let me finish by looking to another major milestone, this one for all Canadians to celebrate: our country’s 150th birthday in 2017.

Looking ahead to that date, I would like to ask members of the Rotary Club, and indeed all service clubs, to consider what role they can play in building a smarter, more caring Canada in the years to come.

What will be your gift to Canada and to Canadians on our nation’s 150th anniversary?

Your contribution is essential, and I look forward to hearing of remarkable things to come from the good people at Rotary.  

Thank you.