Reception Hosted by the Mayor of Vancouver

Vancouver, Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I am delighted to be back here in Vancouver today. You know how much I like your city. Its energy, its people. All enlightened by the Olympic spirit.

As you know, I have accepted to be the patron of the Olympic Truce initiative and yesterday I had the pleasure to unveil in your presence the beautiful Olympic Truce installation. The Olympic Truce is a reminder of this ancient tradition of building and investing in peace, in solidarity and joining our efforts for a better world.

Humanity advances when confrontation ends and when indifference is beaten.

On January 12, we Canadians, like the rest of the world, were in shock.

All it took was for the earth to quake, with unprecedented fury, for thousands of children, women and men to find themselves buried under the rubble.

For thousands of lives to be turned upside down, torn apart by despair and pain, not far from us in the Americas, on that island that many of us today are attached to, by our roots and in our hearts.

Those intense, seemingly endless tremors shook the world, including Canada.

Visions of horror reached even our eyes, and we are still badly shaken by what we have seen.

We were in shock. Some waited desperately for news. Others mourned the loss of loved ones.

When the first images, the first accounts reached our country, a powerful movement of solidarity swept across Canada and throughout the world, extending all the way to Haiti.

The dust has settled on the island.

Now there is a need to comfort, to feed, to heal, and to build.

But as great as the needs are, greater still is our desire to respond.

I firmly believe that that spirit of generosity and compassion, combined with the efforts of the Haitian people, will overcome the forces of destruction.

Thank you, children, who show us that solidarity is ageless.

Thank you, UNICEF workers, who are there, on the ground, and doing remarkable work.

Thank you, the City of Vancouver, who are doing so much when you have so much to do, and who remind us so well today that going green also means showing solidarity.   

Thank you, the diaspora, the key links in the chain of fraternity that envelops Haiti in these extremely trying times.  

As young athletes from around the world push the limits of human performance, let us not forget our sisters and brothers in Haiti, whose daily lives are a lesson in courage, endurance and hope.