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March 2, 2008 We are very saddened to learn that Canadian Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze, of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), based out of Edmonton, Alberta, died today near Kandahar while taking part in a re-supply operation. His team is in shock at having lost such a highly regarded m...

Rideau Hall, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 I would like to share with you my great admiration for the work you do every day for the benefit of all Canadians. I want you to know how grateful we are for your dedication, your sense of duty and your professionalism. I believe it is important that we recogniz...

March 7, 2008 OTTAWA—Simone de Beauvoir would have been 100 years old this year. What a wonderful opportunity for us to measure the progress we have made since this committed woman published the iconic book that forever changed the way we see women’s roles in society. Not only did The Second Sex ope...

Toronto, Friday, March 7, 2008 If you only knew how much I have been looking forward to joining you this evening. Particularly since the theme you have chosen this year has given me hope that we will unite voices, knowledge, hearts and minds. I would like to take this opportunity to salute the Métis...

Toronto, Saturday, March 8, 2008 I cannot begin to tell you how important it is for me to celebrate International Women’s Day with you. Women of the First Nations, women of the Métis and Inuit peoples, permit me to call you my sisters. Because I truly believe that we are all sisters. From us, as wom...

March 10, 2008 On this Commonwealth Day, I join Canadians across the country in reflecting upon our history and the ties that we share with our partners in 52 countries around the world. I have spoken a great deal during my mandate of breaking down the solitudes that exist between Canadians, but it ...

March 11, 2008 OTTAWA—It was with great sadness that my husband Jean-Daniel Lafond and I learned of the death of Bombardier Jérémie Ouellet, of the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, stationed at Shilo, in Manitoba. The mission being carried out by our soldiers in Afghanistan is in many re...

March 17, 2008 OTTAWA—My husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I are deeply saddened to learn that Sergeant Jason Boyes from the Second Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based out of Shilo, Manitoba, died in Afghanistan, while on patrol. This is a very painful reminder of the dange...

Latin America Film Festival 2008 March 19, 2008 A WONDERFUL GIFT! I would first like to say that as a filmmaker, and also as the husband and special collaborator of the Governor General of Canada, I am pleased and honoured to preside over this Latin American Film Festival. This is a unique event bec...

March 20, 2008 We came from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We enriched Canada with our accents and our contributions. We are privileged to have roots that run deep in these vast lands that were home to the Aboriginal people who welcomed us. And in return, we were given a country of unlimite...

March 21, 2008 Last year, I marked the 200th anniversary of the end of the transatlantic slave trade by organizing a forum at Rideau Hall to discuss the history of slavery and racial discrimination to the present day. That forum gave specialists in the field of racism and discrimination, students, m...

Rideau Hall, Wednesday, March 26, 2008 It is always a pleasure and an honour, as commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces, to find myself in the company of men and women who are fulfilling a noble commitment—out of a sense of duty, out of a desire to make a contribution, out of an unwavering convic...

Montréal, Thursday, March 27, 2008 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY What a joy, what a pleasure it is to be here this evening. Jean-Daniel and I are absolutely delighted to be able to share this moment with you here at TOHU, in St-Michel, Montréal, and to be part of this unifying celebration of brotherhood. T...

Rideau Hall, Friday, March 28, 2008 It is a pleasure for Jean-Daniel and me to welcome you to Rideau Hall to continue the dialogue on the place that Canadian visual and media arts hold in our society, and to bring together this year’s award recipients and other artists, painters, creators and admini...

Rideau Hall, Friday, March 28, 2008 You know, for Jean-Daniel, for me, for the entire Rideau Hall team, one of the great pleasures of living and working in this residence is being surrounded every day by luminous, evocative, thoughtful images, thanks to the imaginations of our artists and the genero...

Presentation of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts Rideau Hall, Friday, March 28, 2008 Good evening, How does our society view the visual and media arts and their creators, and consequently, do they get enough visibility here and abroad? That is the two-part question we tried to ...