Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
COMMEMORATION OF 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF VE DAY
Manitoba Legislative Building Rotunda
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 12 noon
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Fellow Manitobans, Canadians united in remembrance, it’s an honour to join you in expressing our gratitude to veterans on this special anniversary.
We are gathered today in the heart of Treaty One land in a place dedicated to democracy and freedom. I acknowledge that that our beautiful and diverse province is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Anishininew, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Nehetho Nation and is the homeland of the Red River Métis. As well, Manitoba includes northern lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
And in this sacred place, we give thanks to the veterans who defended those values in the most devastating war in history.
Eighty years ago today, the Second World War came to an end in Europe and the murderous ideology that launched it upon the world was defeated.
Canada paid a terrible price in blood during six years of war – fighting on land, on water and in the air. The veterans we salute today represent a million Canadians who served at home or abroad during the war – a remarkable effort from a country of only 11 million at that time.
Since then, Canadians have pledged to remember the service and sacrifice of our veterans.
We remember them today, on November the 11th, on special anniversaries and ceremonies. We pass this message on to new generations through school lessons and museums.
And in answer to their service to democracy and freedom, we commit ourselves to protecting those principles today.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I express our province’s profound gratitude to all our veterans.
And to all who have gathered here today, may their service to Canada inspire continued devotion to the country and province that we are so fortunate to call home.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
