Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
CELEBRATION TEA FOR THE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES III
Government House
Friday, May 5, 2023
(please check against delivery)
Fellow Manitobans, thank you for joining me this afternoon on the eve of an historic event.
I am delighted to welcome you to Government House, in the heart of Treaty One land and in the homeland of the Red River Metis. I acknowledge that the province we love and that I represent as Lieutenant Governor is the present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Red River Metis peoples.
We acknowledge northern Manitoba includes lands that were, and are, the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
Together, we strive to advance understanding, healing and reconciliation and work as partners for a better future.
We are meeting on the eve of a ceremony that most of us have either never experienced before, or can only dimly recall from childhood memories.
The celebration tomorrow of the coronation of King Charles III will be much more than just a show of pageantry and glamour – though there will be enough of that to keep you glued to your television.
For Canadians, it will be an opportunity to think of the role of the monarchy in our country and the evolution of Canada under the seven monarchs since Confederation.
In Canada, the Monarch is a symbolic embodiment of the nation – one that is not part of the day-to-day debates and competition of political life.
That is why our highest awards in Canada – for bravery, for public service, for artistic excellence – are bestowed by the Monarch’s representative, the Governor General.
The monarchy in Canada serves as a living reminder of our past. And we need to know our history, because without knowing where we’ve been it’s very hard to know where we’re going.
I’m sure that a number of you have come out in the past to watch Royal visits to Manitoba.
Maybe you saw King Charles as a young man during the Royal visit at the time of Manitoba’s centennial in 1970. Or maybe during the 2014 visit, when His Majesty opened the Journey to Churchill exhibit at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.
It can be an extraordinary experience. I had my own special Royal encounter just last week, when I was privileged to have a Royal audience with King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
It was in many ways a surreal experience. On the one hand, you’re meeting a fellow human being, somebody with a family, a job, interests and passions – like anybody else and yet not at all like anybody else, because you are also coming face to face with a thousand years of political, social and cultural change.
He explained some of the history of the coronation ceremony to me which began in the year 973 with the coronation of King Edgar. It certainly brought home to me the deep history of the monarchy. This was an unusual and powerful moment for me.
I know that as Canadians you’ll celebrate the coronation of a king who has so often expressed his fondness for Canada. I took advantage of the opportunity to invite him to Manitoba again. I did this on behalf of all Manitobans, and I extended an invitation from the Treaty Commissioners and the Elders Council.
As a lifelong Manitoban, who has watched the sun rise over Lake Winnipeg for many years, I smile at the thought of one famous royal utterance: “Every time I come to Canada, a little more of Canada seeps into my bloodstream, and from there straight to my heart.”
May tomorrow’s coronation inject a little more love of Canada and its history and traditions into all of our hearts.
Thank you, Merci, Meegwich.