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Inuvik, Sunday, April 13, 2008 As soon as you set foot in Inuvik, what is perhaps most remarkable is its astonishing diversity. Inuvik is about the people: elders, youth, the Gwich’in, the Inuvialuit, the Métis, Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals, Anglophones and even some Francophones, living together...

Inuvik, Monday, April 14, 2008 It is an immense pleasure for me to be here tonight with people, yes from Inuvik and nearby areas, but also from as far away as Alaska, Greenland and Chootka, Russia. Let me start by saluting the students of Sir Alexander Mackenzie School for the beautiful illustration...

Inuvik, Tuesday, April 15, 2008 From near and far, we have answered the call to come together to discuss a national strategy on Inuit education. With that in mind, I would like to get right to the heart of the matter. My personal story has taught me that education is the key to freedom. The freedom ...

Inuvik, Tuesday, April 15, 2008 What a fantastic idea to have a lab on wheels! The idea is so ingenious in its simplicity and so perfectly suited to life in the Far North, where communities are spread out over vast terrain and are sometimes difficult to access. I am delighted that this project has b...

Tuktoyaktuk, Wednesday, April 16, 2008 This is the second time that I have travelled here, to the Northwest Territories, and the fourth time that I have crossed the 60th parallel since my installation as governor general. But I have never travelled this far into the circumpolar region. We are in the...

Banff, Thursday, April 24, 2008 Thank you for responding to our invitation. The idea is simple: bring together artists, women and men from the cultural community who are committed to and passionate about the arts and culture. Create a space for debate, dialogue and discussion: a national forum to ex...

Banff, Saturday, April 26, 2008 I wish to begin by recognizing the elders of the Blackfoot Nation—Elder Tom Crane Bear and all the others—who offered me their blessings under a painted tipi this morning. I was honoured by their words, honoured by their gestures and a ceremony that dates back to the ...

Opening Ceremony of the National Art Matters Forum Banff, Thursday, April 24, 2008 Good evening, In the past year or so, the Governor General and I have held over 20 editions of Art Matters, not only at Rideau Hall when awards celebrating artistic talent are presented, but also during our visits acr...

April 28, 2008 Canada is greatly admired around the world for so many reasons. One reason in particular is the unsurpassed generosity and social commitment of Canadians. We believe in helping one another and in reaching out to those most in need; we are always ready to respond in times of crisis, to...

Rideau Hall, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 I have always believed that the true strength of a country lies in its citizens’ willingness to help one another. Those of you we are honouring today are further proof of that. You cannot put a price on what you do. Lighting a spark of joy in the eyes of a sick...

Rideau Hall, Friday, May 2, 2008 Jean-Daniel and I are delighted to welcome you here to Rideau Hall and to have you join us around this large table, which is an invitation to discussion and to celebration. Today, we are holding the 24th edition of Art Matters, this time in conjunction with the Gover...

Art Matters Forum held in Conjunction with theGovernor General’s Performing Arts Awards Rideau Hall, Friday, May 2, 2008 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY For creators in all artistic disciplines, the body is more than a medium or a vessel. As the seat of our existence, of our sensate experience, the human bod...

May 2, 2008 We often say that we have rights, but we have responsibilities as well. Take, for example, the right to know so that we may better understand and learn. With this right comes the responsibility to remember, to look to the past and to hold on to the stories of those who have lived it. Som...

Rideau Hall, Friday, May 2, 2008 Tonight, we are celebrating the performing arts, and to me, the stage is a meeting place. A meeting place for people who communicate in a way that extends beyond that moment on stage. Who among us, while watching a performance, a concert, a film, has not felt themsel...

Ottawa, Saturday, May 3, 2008 Here we are, together again to celebrate the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala. Thank you so much for being here tonight as supporters of Canadian art. From up here, one can see that the stage is a meeting place. It is a place for looking, for listening and...

Paris, Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Parliamentarians and friends of Canada, my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I would like to thank you for such a warm welcome. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply moved by your words and would like you to know how delighted we are to be in France, a country that is dear to our hea...

May 6, 2008 It was with great sorrow that my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I learned of the death of Corporal Michael Starker, of 15 Field Ambulance, in Afghanistan. During a patrol with Afghan National Security Forces in the Pashmul region, Cpl Starker’s cooperation team had to respond to enemy ...

Paris, Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Thank you, Excellency, for this warm welcome. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. And here we are. It is a great joy for me, my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and our daughter, Marie-Éden, who is celebrating her ninth birthday today, to be here with you....

Reviers, Thursday, May 8, 2008 I am so proud to be standing here with you, Excellency, in this place so steeped in history for our two peoples, on this solemn May 8th, so soon after the moving commemoration at Ouistreham. Take a look at the tombstones that surround us. Beneath each one, there is a u...

La Rochelle, Thursday, May 8, 2008 Here we are, in this magnificent place steeped in history, in this year marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of the City of Québec, on the shores of the ocean where explorers like Samuel de Champlain mapped out the first maritime routes that link us today....