Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
65TH ANNIVERSARY OF INCLUSION WINNIPEG
Government House
Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Friends of Inclusion Winnipeg and builders of a more caring Manitoba, welcome to Government House and this celebration of a great community organization.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I always begin by acknowledging that we are gathered in the heart of Treaty One land and the heartland of the Red River Metis.
In a province that is the present-day and ancestral home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Metis peoples, building a more inclusive and just society requires that we listen and learn, break down barriers and build bridges.
As we all know, there are many intersecting and overlapping kinds of barriers – barriers based on race, culture, religion, language, gender, age and, of course, disability.
Creating a more just and fair province has been the work of generations of Manitobans and many organizations – working separately and working together.
Today, we are celebrating Inclusion Winnipeg for its 65 years of work to enhance the lives and protect the human rights of children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Your organization provides an inspiring illustration of how progress is made in many areas of justice and human rights. Often, as with the parents who came together in the late 1950s to advocate for a school for their children, progress starts with a small group of people and one specific obstacle to be overcome.
And often, work toward that particular goal builds the confidence to look more widely, to ask more fundamental questions, to raise awareness well beyond the founding coalition.
By combining individual advocacy and family engagement, public policy research and social justice advocacy, professional development and community mobilization, staff members and volunteers at Inclusion Winnipeg create ripples of change throughout our province and our nation.
Thank you for opening doors in education and employment. Thank you for enhancing accessibility and equality and for changing our province for the better in so many ways.
And in this milestone year, I congratulate all of the supporters, volunteers and staff of Inclusion Winnipeg and all of the individuals and families whose lives you’ve touched over the last 65 years.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
