Prime Minister Underlines Canada's Role in Wartime Quebec Conferences

On the occasion of the unveiling in Quebec City of commemorative busts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien underlined Canada's important role in the Quebec City Conferences of 1943 and 1944.

"This unveiling is yet another of the many expressions of esteem and recognition in our country's recent history for our crucial role in the Allied war effort against the forces of Nazism," said the Prime Minister. "Quebec City was the site of these historic meetings hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King and attended by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. All Canadians are proud of the role Mr. King played at that time."

The Prime Minister praised Roosevelt and Churchill. "Because of their steadfast faith in victory, Churchill and Roosevelt changed the course of history. Through their courageous leadership, they helped turn back the tide of fascism and promoted democratic values and institutions around the world," he said. "Prime Minister Churchill embodied, for all, the determination of the free world never to yield to fascism, while President Roosevelt called forth an unshakeable resolve to see freedom triumph."

At the same time, the Prime Minister expressed his regret that the organizers of the event had not given a more prominent place to the contribution of the Canadian government and Prime Minister Mackenzie King to the Quebec City Conferences of 1943 and 1944. As a result, he indicated that he would not attend the unveiling. But he also noted that a plaque at the Quebec Citadel also commemorates the wartime conferences and appropriately acknowledges the role of the Canadian Prime Minister at that time. "I invite everyone visiting Quebec City in the future to go to both sites, to fully appreciate Canada's role in these historic events," the Prime Minister concluded.

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