Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY – WOMEN BUILD BLITZ LUNCHEON
Thursday, July 10, 2025
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Volunteers, fellow Manitobans, members of the Jones and Company team – it’s a pleasure to join you today as part of the Women Build Blitz.
As we celebrate the building of a community of homes here in Transcona, and all the contributions made by Habitat for Humanity and especially the Women Build Committee, we acknowledge that this community is built in the heart of Treaty One land and in the heartland of the Red River Metis.
And we acknowledge and celebrate that Manitoba is the ancestral and present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Red River Metis peoples.
As we work to make this province a place of healthy and prosperous communities, we reaffirm our commitment to truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
When we talk about a healthy community, it’s almost taken for granted that it’s a place where the people living there have a secure, healthy place to live. But we know that for too many people, such a home is out of their reach.
That makes the work of Habitat for Humanity and its volunteers such an important contribution to our city and province. Habitat’s Pandora West development — with 55 new homes that will eventually house some 275 people, provides a picture of the scale of this organization’s commitment to helping families.
Volunteering also confers many benefits on the volunteer. Volunteers learn valuable skills, make new friends, and develop new confidence.
For the women participating in this Women Build Blitz. I’m sure it’s tremendously empowering for all of you to develop hands-on experience in construction – a field that not so long ago was entirely male.
Until recently, young women were steered away from so many trades and professions and life experiences, and it was just assumed that most of them – most of us — would grow up to be homemakers.
Well, as Women Build volunteers you literally are making a home. And it will be a lasting source of pride for each of you to see a new community that you helped to create.
As part of the Jones and Company team, you can already be proud of your connection to a woman-led business that has been creating opportunities, serving its hospitality industry partners and delighting tastebuds for more than a quarter century.
Now you’re making a better, more equitable province by giving your time and energy to address the need for affordable, quality housing for families.
Thank you for your involvement with Habitat for Humanity. And thank you to all the sponsors and donors who have contributed to Habitat Manitoba’s nearly forty years of helping families have a place to call home.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
