Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CANADA AWARD CEREMONY
Government House
Thursday, October 19, 2023, 12:30 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Friends and colleagues of a great Manitoban, welcome to this celebration of service to the public good.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to Government House, in the heart of Treaty One and the heartland of the Red River Metis.
Like the Legislative Building next door, this historic structure is symbol of a province that is the ancestral and present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Metis peoples.
And as we gather to celebrate leadership, excellence and integrity in carrying out public responsibilities, we acknowledge that those responsibilities include hearing truths and advancing understanding, opportunity, and healing for all.
The job of overseeing the public business in a province of 1.4 million people requires many talented individuals with expertise in leading staff, managing money, analyzing technology and assessing needs.
But it requires more than high-level professional skills.
It requires the commitments enshrined by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada – commitment to personal integrity, democratic governance, respect, continuous learning and reflection on values and ethics.
The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration is an annual award recognizing Manitobans who have accomplished great things in their public sector leadership while setting an example as citizens and as human beings.
Through this award, I’m very pleased to join you in recognizing Dr. Digvir Jayas as an exemplar of a public administrator.
We will hear in more detail shortly about Dr. Jayas’s many contributions in his leadership positions at the University of Manitoba and about his many other contributions and the benefits his work has brought to Manitoba.
I do feel privileged in that I have had opportunity over the years to personally observe Dr. Jayas’s many accomplishments.
We are fortunate in Manitoba to have such people leading our public sector institutions.
The Institute of Public Administration, in supporting such excellence through this award and through its other activities, plays an important role in ensuring that the standard of public leadership remains high.
Dr. Jayas, thank you for meeting and exceeding that standard throughout your career, and thank you to all who make this annual award possible.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich.