Address by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on the Occasion of the Arrival in Canada of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

October 4, 2002
Iqaluit, Nunavut

I am honoured to I welcome Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness to Canada in, this, the Golden Jubilee year of your reign.

As always, Canadians have been awaiting your arrival with keen anticipation. In the many times you have come to our shores since your very first visit as Princess in 1951, Canadians have been inspired by your abiding grace and dignity, by the dedication to ideals and duty that have so personified your life and by your never faltering commitment to others.

However, in this Golden Jubilee year, we welcome you with an even deeper sense of gratitude and appreciation. Your visit gives us a chance not only to celebrate but to reflect.

The reign of Your Majesty has encompassed an era of extraordinary global change and transformation. Since your Accession to the Throne, the Cold War has run its dangerous course. The Commonwealth has evolved into a vibrant partnership of equals. And the power of free trade and technology has created a truly global village.

Your reign has also coincided with the development of the modern and cosmopolitan Canada of today. A confident, bilingual and multicultural country where shared values of compassion and acceptance are symbols of a society that is envied around the world.

Over the next eleven days, your travels will take you to every corner of this great land: North and South. East and West. Each has special memories of Your Majesty and will celebrate your Golden Jubilee in ways that are as colourful and varied as our country and our people.

But it is not by accident that your visit begins here in Nunavut, the newest member of the Canadian family. Its creation in 1999 marked the end of a long journey for our country. One in which the people of the Eastern Arctic demonstrated their determination to build a vibrant, new territory. And one in which Canadians of the south came to recognize the right of Northern people to take control of their destiny.

It is also appropriate that the first words of welcome should take the form of a song. An expression of joy at seeing a long anticipated visitor.

Nunavut has set a tone for the next eleven days. I was not alone in noting that the slight chill that is even now in the air has been lessened by the warmth of smiling faces that have already greeted you along the way.

This special Thanksgiving time of year will be made all the more memorable by your presence. And I would like to close with some words from another song that sums up what we wish to convey on this most historic and happy occasion: God Save the Queen.

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