Québec City, Quebec, Friday, September 5, 2014

I am delighted to be here with you today for the dedication of this impressive statue, as we mark the 150th anniversary year of the Québec Conference.

The Québec Conference was truly an important event in the history of this country. Held in the wake of the successful Charlottetown Conference earlier that year, the gathering resulted in the 72 Resolutions—also known as the Québec Resolutions—which were the building blocks of Canada’s constitution.

This bronze statue represents Étienne-Paschal Taché, a too-often-forgotten Father of Confederation.

He was, of course, chairman of the Québec Conference, but it was his unfailing dedication to the public good and to compromise—throughout his entire political life—that paved the way for Canada.

To quote historian Andrée Désilets:

“A fair evaluation of Taché’s whole career requires the setting aside of usual standards of assessment and a realization that the strength that makes compromise possible may be as great as the strength behind creativity or resistance.”

I think it very fitting that we honour Étienne-Paschal Taché—a person wholly dedicated to the spirit of compromise—on the anniversary of the Québec Conference.

Perhaps more than any other quality, the willingness to achieve compromise has defined Canada at its nation-building best for the past century-and-a-half.

And I have no doubt that our ability to bridge differences and work together will continue to be an integral part of our success in the years to come.

The Québec Conference was a key moment on the road to Confederation, but it would take another three years of negotiations and hard work before Canada became a reality.

Just as three years from now, in 2017, we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.

I am very much looking forward to that celebration, and I invite each of you to find new ways to help Canada become a smarter, more caring country as we approach that date.

Let us honour Mr. Taché and the delegates of the Québec Conference by rededicating ourselves to working together in a spirit of co-operation.

Together, let us continue the work of building this great nation.

Happy anniversary, Québec!

Happy anniversary, Canada!