Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
120TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
Government House
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
(please check against delivery)
Builders of peace, prosperity, health and international understanding – welcome to Government House and this celebration of 120 years of Rotary International.
As we celebrate an organization that unites people in 200 nations around the world, we begin by acknowledging the nations of Manitoba – here in Treaty One land and in the heartland of the Red River Metis and all across our province.
In a province that is the ancestral and present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Dakota, Dene and Cree nations, and the Red River Métis; and that includes ancestral lands of the Inuit, we are committed to collaboration and friendship between and among all the people of Manitoba.
Manitoba is the ideal place for this anniversary gathering because it was right here that Rotary became international when Winnipeg Rotary Club was born just five years after the very first Rotary Club formed in Chicago.
So our city and province can take a lot of credit for helping Rotary acquire its global focus of peace, education, cultural understanding and improving health for those in the greatest need.
And in a world of uncertainty, where trade and alliances are threatened and we seem to be moving back to an earlier time of mutually hostile competing empires, we need Rotary International more than ever.
At a global level, Rotary International has saved countless lives by helping to eradicate polio, provide clean water and support health care for women and children, among many other worthy projects that bring our world together.
And at a local level, Manitobans have benefited from stewardship of the Assiniboine Forest, support for remote Indigenous communities, scholarships and youth exchange programs and much more. One of the highlights of spring for Manitoba Lieutenant Governors – myself included – has been meeting the students who gather each year at the Rotary Model United Nations General Assembly.
As members of Manitoba’s Rotary Clubs, each of you takes on a leadership role in society by sharing big dreams of a better world and finding ways to make real progress toward those dreams.
I wish you well as you continue a long tradition of integrity, public service and fellowship through Rotary International.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
