Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
EMS EXEMPLARY SERVICE MEDAL CEREMONY
Government House
Thursday, October 12, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Friends and members of a vital profession, welcome to this celebration of service, compassion and courage.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to Government House, in the heart of Treaty One land, and in the heartland of the Red River Metis.
In this province, the ancestral and the present-day home of First Nations, Metis and Inuit, we give thanks to all who dedicate their careers to protecting others.
Together, we will continue to learn and to advance understanding, opportunity, and healing for all.
The Governor General’s Exemplary Service Medals are part of the national honours system, – presented to exceptional members who have exhibited the highest standard of service under trying and urgent, and often perilous circumstances.
It takes years of service to be eligible for these honours. It takes a special kind of dedication that motivates professionals to head out into the dark of night, into the blizzards of winter and the tempests of summer, to run toward fear and uncertainty.
Today, we are recognizing and celebrating EMS Professionals who have served others in this fashion for twenty, thirty and even forty years.
Each of today’s award recipients has served the people of our province by continuously learning and upgrading skills. Each of them has lived with the possibility that any moment of calm can suddenly be upended by an emergency. Each of them has had times of fatigue that had to be pushed aside to help somebody.
They have provided urgent emergency care to the young and old, to women and men and children. And they have served as mentors and leaders for newcomers to their profession, using the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of decades to strengthen emergency care.
Their service makes our communities safer and healthier and sets a standard of dedication for all. In the process, they help to strengthen the spirit of community that does so much to make Manitoba the place we love to call home.
To each of today’s award recipients, thank you for all you have done for your fellow Manitobans.
May you wear your medal with pride and in good spirits and good health.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich
