Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
HOMES FOR HEROES OPEN DOOR GALA
RBC Convention Centre
Friday, September 22, 2023, 7:00 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Good evening friends. I am so pleased to have this opportunity to join you tonight in seeking to open doors for many of Canada’s unsung heroes, our veterans.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I acknowledge and honour that we are gathered in the heart of Treaty One Territory, and the homeland of the Red River Metis.
This beautiful and diverse province is also the ancestral and present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene and Inuit peoples.
Together, we must continue to work to hear truths, and to advance opportunity and understanding, and healing for all.
In cities and towns across Canada, we have seen the effects of homelessness and home insecurity. Too many of our fellow Canadians lack a safe and secure place of their own. And too many of them are veterans of Canada’s armed forces.
Without a stable home, meeting the basic needs of life can be overwhelming. Keeping clean, eating healthy food, getting to appointments or to work – these can be insurmountable challenges if home is a tent on the riverbank or a cot in a shelter.
Serving in the military can bring with it traumatic experiences that are difficult enough to overcome without these additional obstacles. Our veterans deserve the opportunity to rebuild their lives in a place they can call home.
For all of those reasons, the innovative plans developed by Homes for Heroes hold great promise.
Our homelessness crisis in Canada has many causes and won’t be solved by any single solution.
But an essential part of the solution is to build support for the goal of meeting the housing needs of Canadians.
The leadership driving Homes for Heroes is doing so much more than just providing communities of veterans with four walls and a roof.
The success of Homes for Heroes communities, will undoubtedly inspire other not-for-profit organizations seeking to build similar communities for other homeless populations.
In that respect, the residents of the Homes for Heroes communities, having served Canada in the past, will again do this nation a great service.
To all who work for solutions to homelessness, including all who have made this evening possible, thank you for your vision, your dedication and for your efforts in building a better, and more just nation.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich.
