Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
COMMUNITY SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES III
Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist, Winnipeg
Saturday, May 6, 2023, 2 p.m.
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Fellow Manitobans, it is a pleasure to join you in celebration of this historic day.
It is my privilege to acknowledge that we are gathered here on Treaty One land and in the heartland of the Red River Metis. I acknowledge that the province we love, and that I represent as Lieutenant Governor, is the traditional and 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.
As Canadians, we have the good fortune to live in a nation that embraces an evolving identity while maintaining a connection to its history.
The Canada we live in today is not the Canada we were born in – just as none of us are the people we were 50 years or 50 weeks ago.
As individuals, we have learned new things, we have experienced joys and heartbreaks. We have changed and we have been changed.
And so with our country.
But while Canada is continually transforming – as all healthy, living entities must do – we also have symbols and that connect us to the Canada of last year and last century.
As we gather at this beautiful place of worship, we celebrate continuity amid change, as represented by the coronation this morning of King Charles III.
As the seventh Sovereign of Canada, King Charles has had a long relationship with Canada, strengthened by tours of our country for more than 50 years.
His Majesty has been with us for celebrations – from the Manitoba Centennial of 1970 to the Canada 150 commemorations of 2017, and he has witnessed decades of Canada’s social, economic, cultural and constitutional evolution.
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.
As I have said before, 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.
Today, we give thanks for our lives in a nation that advances to the future, equipped with awareness of its past and with institutions capable of responding to the shifting winds of time.
With courage and compassion, with determination and imagination, we can make sure that the Canada that evolves throughout His Majesty’s reign is one we can all be proud of.
Thank you, Merci, Meegwich.
