Rideau Hall, Wednesday, December 13, 2006

I have just returned from a great adventure in the birthplace of civilization.

In Africa, every thing I saw, every conversation I had, every person I met, everything I did, every sunset, was a story I wanted to tell.

I wanted to tell these stories to preserve and prolong every moment of the adventure and to share them with others.

Books are meeting places—places of knowledge, discovery, soul-searching, and escape. They are constantly evolving, like life itself. They flood us with questions and provide us with just as many answers.

We who are privileged to live in a world of books must remember that many of our fellow Canadians are not so lucky, and neither are many people in other parts of the world.

Books teach us. Books lead us to dream and to ponder. Books help us re-imagine our world. They convey our thoughts and values, and they illustrate our creative powers.

Living in a country where the books are as abundant as the maple trees, we have certain responsibilities: we must make books accessible to all, spread the joy of reading, and promote its importance.

Tonight, we honour books and those who create them.

I want to honour those who share ideas, images and language. Without them, incredible journeys into the minds of others would be impossible.

I also want to honour bookbinders, like Lise Dubois, who take paper and ink and transform them into things of beauty. Ms. Dubois is with us here tonight.

Every author is an artist and a thinker, bringing grace and meaning to the world. Every book is another voice joining in the global chorus.

We must applaud authors for the joy they bring us, and for exposing us to new points of view by encouraging us to open up to one another.

The seventieth presentation of the Governor General’s Literary Awards, which we are celebrating here tonight, is a chance for us to think about what books mean to us, and what our world would be like without them.

Imagine for a moment a world without stories, without ideas, without poetry ...

Tonight we honour all those who write and make books. Thank you and bravo!

I invite you now to salute the laureates of the 2006 Governor General’s Literary Awards: Andrée Laberge and Peter Behrens, for their works of fiction; Hélène Dorion and John Pass, for their poetry; Evelyne de la Chenelière and Daniel MacIvor, for their plays; Pierre Ouellet and Ross King, for their works of non‑fiction.

Dany Laferrière and William Gilkerson, for writing children’s literature; Rogé and Leo Yerxa, for illustrating children’s literature; Sophie Voillot and Hugh Hazelton, for their translations.

I wish you, the laureates of the 2006 Governor General’s Literary Awards, a long and rewarding career. Keep writing.

Because, above all else, writing is about breaking down the walls of silence and proclaiming your freedom to the world.

I warmly congratulate you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart.