Archives - Jean Chrétien

Jean Chrétien at the Installation Ceremony of the Govenor General Roméo LeBlanc

Your Excellency,

It is a great pleasure for me to offer you the best wishes of the Government, Parliament and people of Canada as you take the oath of office.

On their behalf, I would ask that your first official act be to convey to Her Majesty, the Queen of Canada, a message expressing our loyalty and affection.

I would also like to offer my warmest appreciation and thanks to your predecessor, the Right Honourable Ramon Hnatyshyn, and Mrs. Hnatyshyn, for their long and outstanding service to Canada.

Your Excellency, it is with great pride and pleasure that I welcome your assumption of office as the representative of Her Majesty.

You are the first Acadian and the first Atlantic Canadian to serve in this important position.

Two hundred years ago, your ancestors were struggling to keep a small Acadian community alive after many years of war and terrible economic hardships. They were pawns in the battles between European empires. Most of them were deported. Many of them died from hunger and disease. Several ships full of exiles sank in the ocean.

But a determined few managed to escape and return, despite the efforts of the colonial authorities to disperse them.

In the end, not only did they survive those terrible trials, but their descendants developed and flourished in this land they made their home. With exceptional courage, they preserved their culture. And they resolved to put aside old grudges and live in peace and harmony with their fellow Canadians, concentrating on what they had in common, rather than what might divide them. As we all know, it is because of them that Atlantic Canada has a remarkably rich and dynamic Acadian culture.

Today, the representative of the Head of State in Canada is a worthy descendant of this race of builders. He is an Acadian, one of the many ways of being Canadian. That is our Canadian reality.

Your installation gives us the opportunity to think about all we have achieved together in this country. It reminds us that we are a society of immigrants who, together with the First Nations, made this country what it is today. That our country's unity was built in diversity, and that this diversity is also our strength. In fact, it is a fundamental characteristic of our nation.

It also reminds us how much francophones in every part of Canada have contributed to the process of nation-building, while preserving their own culture in North America. And it makes us proud that we have supported the development of bilingualism and Canada's linguistic duality.

The governments of which I have been a member have always made it a point of honour to protect official language minorities everywhere in Canada francophones outside Quebec and anglophones in Quebec. I recently had the opportunity to meet with representatives of more than one million francophones living outside Quebec, and I reiterated the federal government's commitment to continue defending and promoting the rights of official language minorities across Canada.

This is one of the fundamental principles I have defended throughout my political career. And it will continue to be an important priority for the government I lead. This government will ensure that all federal institutions play a role in developing francophone communities by taking their specific needs into account.

Our country has experienced profound transformations. These changes were made in typically Canadian fashion. Quietly. Without a lot of fanfare. One step at a time. Because Canada is constantly evolving. Canada has the flexibility to be whatever we want to make of it.

Your Excellency, your term of office will see Canada enter a new millennium. Let us take the opportunity to reflect on the remarkable century that our country has experienced. And let us not be afraid to show our pride in what we have managed to build together.

From a small colony, we have become a full member of the international community. We made major contributions to defending freedom and democracy in two world wars. We invented the concept of peacekeeping, and demonstrated a commitment to peace that is unrivalled. Our business leaders, scientists, scholars, athletes and artists are internationally recognized. Canadians have won Nobel prizes and travelled in space. We have dared to dream, and we have worked together to make our dreams come true.

We have welcomed people from all corners of the earth, and shown the world how to build a peaceful, prosperous, tolerant and generous society. Our quality of life is recognized to be second to none. We are the envy of the world.

We are building Canada together on the basis of our values. Like our predecessors, we are seeking to give our country a system in which the essential conditions exist for the development of each individual. Our country may not be perfect, but we recognize that it is in a constant state of transformation.

For example, Your Excellency is very familiar with the progress achieved in your native province of New Brunswick over the last thirty years. In 1967, Premier Louis Robichaud made a determined attack on the problem of regional disparities by introducing an ambitious equal opportunity program. His economic and linguistic reforms profoundly changed provincial institutions and initiated a process to give all citizens better educational, health care and income security services.

These reforms were continued by Premiers Hatfield and McKenna. The progress that has been achieved is remarkable and has left its mark on the community. In March 1993 the aspirations of New Brunswick's two major linguistic communities French and English were entrenched in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, when they were given equal rights and privileges.

Your Excellency, as a new century dawns, this example, like many others, encourages us to look forward with optimism. After a difficult recession, our economy is now demonstrating a recovery that outpaces all the other major industrial nations. We face serious challenges, but we are confronting these challenges with a renewed spirit of hope and confidence.

Your Excellency, I have had the honour to know you for many years. I have known you as a man who has not sought glory for himself, but has simply strived to serve the people of Canada.

As a teacher, journalist, Member of Parliament, Minister, Senator and Speaker of the Senate, you have demonstrated a remarkable and unwavering commitment to this country and its people. You have earned the respect and affection of your colleagues and your fellow Canadians. Your career is an example of devoted public service and a source of inspiration to all who live in this country.

On behalf of all Canadians, I thank you for accepting these new responsibilities. And I also wish to extend my thanks and best wishes to your wife and family. I know they share your devotion to public service.

Canadians sometimes find it difficult to express the pride they feel in their country. But, Your Excellency, I know you well, and I know you are not like that.

I know that you will serve Canadians well in your new position because, above all, you have a profound love for this country. And so, I wish you every success in the service of our great country, Canada.