Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MANITOBA
RBC Convention Centre
Friday, April 25, 2025, 6:30 p.m.
(please check delivery)
Members and friends of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, fellow Manitobans, thank you for the opportunity to reflect with you on a century and a half of fellowship, learning and building.
It’s a pleasure to welcome Masons from all across our province to this gathering in the heart of Treaty One land and in the homeland of the Red River Metis.
Your home lodges, where you work on your commitment to faith, hope, charity and equality, are located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Dakota, Dene and Cree nations and in the homeland of the Red River Métis.
In this province, we remain committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
The contribution of Freemasonry and Freemasons to Manitoba’s growth and development is written in street names – Bannatyne, Kennedy, Hargrave, Inkster, and much more.
And it is written in stone at our beautiful Legislative Building – where our elected officials gather to discuss the business of the day surrounded by Masonic symbols meant to call on wisdom and inspiration.
And that history is also written in the dedication of generations of masons to building a prosperous, healthy and just society here in Manitoba.
Those members have sought brotherhood through their involvement in Freemasonry and encouragement to be better husbands and fathers, better neighbours and citizens.
They have served their province and nation through elected office and public service. They have built businesses that created employment and prosperity. They have honed their crafts and their talents in innumerable fields.
And they have given back to their communities through charitable donations and volunteer service.
So tonight, as we celebrate 150 years since the first Masonic lodge was created in the new province of Manitoba, we also celebrate 150 years of the growth and development of this province.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I congratulate the Grand Lodge of Manitoba on this milestone anniversary and join you in celebrating the many ways in which the story of Freemasonry is braided through the story of our province and our country.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
