November 22, 2025

Check against delivery

Bonjour, hello,

Mary and I are delighted to welcome you to this special opening day.

Cast your mind back 153 years. Imagine teams of oxen, hauling huge barrels of water up from the Ottawa River and placing them in a giant oval around this very spot.

It was what Lady Dufferin, wife of then-Governor General Lord Dufferin, described in her diary as “la grande deluge.”

Very cold temperatures at the time sealed the water into the first skating rink.

There has been one here ever since —seeing countless winter festivities, and even the birth of the Stanley Cup!

The members of Lord Stanley’s family were passionate hockey players. So much so that his son Arthur formed the Rideau Rebels, playing against teams from Montréal and Toronto right here.

This inspired Lord Stanley to donate a trophy for the best hockey team in the Dominion—the Stanley Cup.

Women’s hockey also traces its roots to Rideau Hall.

One of the earliest photos of women playing the sport was taken here in the 1890s, featuring Lord Stanley’s daughter Isobel.

I’ll leave it to the great poets and philosophers to try and describe Canadian culture and Canadian identity but the root of it is surely simple:

"We are a country of skaters."

It’s really who we are.

And what can be more fitting than a backyard skating rink in the backyard of the Governor General of Canada.

In what other country of the world would this even be possible?

So while today is about preserving the history of the rink, today is also about building for the future.

We see the rink as a solid foundation for a larger complex.

A canopy covering the area to protect the ice as well as to hold year-round activities.

From spring to fall, I can see maple sugar festivals; Indigenous hoop dancing; a child’s ballet; a pipe band, a brass band, a rock band, a steel drum band; Métis fiddlers, Dene square dancers, Inuit throat singers; Bhangra, dragon dance, and so many others …

We’re only limited by our imagination.

I want to thank Power Corporation of Canada, the Rideau Hall Foundation and the National Capital Commission for making this possible.

We truly appreciate the energy and passion you’ve poured into this project … to make this rink … Canada’s rink!

And now, let’s get on with the show!