Search

Roundtable Discussion on Women’s Participation in Society Zagreb, Croatia, Saturday, October 24, 2009 I am delighted we are taking this opportunity to get to know each other better and to begin a constructive dialogue on the challenges we are facing, our accomplishments and our hopes for the future....

Reception with the Croatian Olympic and Paralympic Committees Zagreb, Croatia, Saturday, October 24, 2009 Canada has a passion for winter, and nothing embodies that passion better than snow and ice sports. In February and March 2010, this passion will be at its peak as Canadians welcome to Vancouver...

Art Matters Forum on the Role of Documentaries in our Society Zagreb, Croatia, Saturday, October 24, 2009 I am delighted to be here with you this evening for this Art Matters forum on the role of documentary film in our society. On the initiative of my husband, filmmaker and philosopher Jean-Daniel ...

Luncheon with the Mayor of Dubrovnik and the Prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County Dubrovnik, Croatia, Sunday, October 25, 2009 If you only knew how happy I and my delegation are to be here, in Dubrovnik, once known as Ragusa, which holds such an important place in the history and culture of Croatians...

Discussion on Preserving Culture and Heritage in an Open Society Dubrovnik, Croatia, Monday, October 26, 2009 I stand before you in one of the bastions of the rich heritage of the Adriatic Coast, a place renowned for its radiance, beauty and history. We are at the confluence of the Slavic and Medite...

Cultural Evening at the Meštrovic Gallery Split, Croatia, Monday, October 26, 2009 We have just arrived in your city and we already think it is magnificent! It gives me and my delegation great pleasure to be here today in Split-Dalmatia, a region of remarkable beauty. And what can be said about this...

State Dinner Hosted by His Excellency Karolos Papoulias,President of the Hellenic Republic, and Mrs. May Papoulia Athens, Greece, Thursday, October 29, 2009 The late Jacques Lacarrière, to whom you paid tribute following his death, Excellency, thought of Greece as an extraordinary brain in a small b...

Reception Hosted by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Athens, Greece, Thursday, October 29, 2009 It is a privilege to be here in Athens, to continue this ancient tradition of passing the Olympic flame. We will soon be heading to Olympia, where there ...

Reception at the Vorres Museum Athens, Greece, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 I am delighted to be here with you this evening, in this place where tradition and modernity come together seamlessly in such perfect harmony. The poet Yannis Ritsos said that in Greece, “[translation] roots travel beneath th...

Art Matters Forum Athens, Greece, Friday, October 30, 2009 My husband, filmmaker and philosopher Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I are delighted to be here with you this evening for this Art Matters forum on the challenges in the promotion and distribution of the Canadian and Greek films abroad. On Jean-Dan...

Youth Dialogue on Civic Engagement and Peacemaking in your Community Ljubljana, Slovenia, Thursday, October 22, 2009 How are you this afternoon? It is such a pleasure for me to join you at my first Youth Dialogue in Ljubljana. I had planned to visit Slovenia last year during a series of State visits...

Youth Dialogue on “Building for Social Change” Athens, Greece, Friday, October 30, 2009 How are you? Let me tell you how pleased I am to meet you, the youth of Greece, during my first State visit to the Hellenic Republic, the cradle of democracy, Some of you may not know, but when I accepted the nom...

Youth Dialogue on the Canadian Experience with Reconciliation Vukovar, Croatia, Tuesday, October 27, 2009 It is with great emotion and humility that I join you today to share in this special moment of exchange on an issue very dear to my heart: reconciliation. Let me begin by telling you how privile...

October 28, 2009 Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, on the death of Lieutenant Justin Boyes OTTAWA— It was with profound sadness that my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I learned of the death of one of our soldiers, Li...

October 31, 2009 Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, on the death of Sapper Steven Marshall OTTAWA—Just as we were beginning to come to terms with the death of one of our soldiers, we find ourselves once again mourning a...

Order of Canada Investiture Ceremony Rideau Hall, Thursday, November 5, 2009 Welcome to Rideau Hall. I have recently had some lovely and moving encounters. I have just returned from three State visits in South-East Europe, where people from civil society—in Slovenia, in Greece, and particularly thos...

Presentation of the Massey Medal Rideau Hall, Friday, November 6, 2009 Former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King once said that “if some countries have too much history, we have too much geography.” I remembered these words the day I committed the very common mistake—in front of a group of c...

Inaugural Presentation of the Sacrifice Medal Rideau Hall, Wednesday, November 12, 2008 When the Allied and enemy forces declared an armistice over 90 years ago, people around the world breathed a sigh of relief. They had paid such a heavy price. The dead and the wounded, both military and civilian,...

Luncheon given in Honour of the Silver Cross Mother Rideau Hall, Wednesday, November 11, 2009 I am pleased to welcome you to Rideau Hall on this very solemn day. It is the occasion to remember all of the soldiers in their prime who gave their lives for freedom during the twentieth century, one of th...

42nd Art Matters Forum Athens, Greece, Friday, October 30, 2009, in Athens. I must confess that, as a filmmaker and writer, I am especially pleased to open this forum and dialogue with you today, here in Athens. For over 20 years, film has allowed me to go where I would never have ventured were I no...