Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
30th ANNIVERSARY, WeMB (FORMERLY MANITOBA WOMEN’S ENTERPRISE CENTRE)
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Thursday, October 17, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Friends and supporters of the WeMB (W-E MB), welcome to this celebration of entrepreneurs and those who encourage them.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on Treaty One territory and in the heartland of the Red River Metis. I acknowledge as well that Manitoba is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Anishininew (ANISH-IN-INEW), Cree, Dakota, Dene, the Nehetho (NE-HET-HO) Nation and the homeland of the Red River Métis and includes northern lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
As Manitobans, we respect the spirit and intent of treaties and treaty making and remain committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
Our efforts to build a better future for Manitobans very much on the success of entrepreneurs in creating employment and expanding the tax base of our province.
We need creative thinkers who can envision new products and services and new ways of doing business. We need focused and disciplined thinkers who can develop detailed plans and examine all the contingencies to make an idea work. We need people with the courage to risk their time and resources on an idea.
And we need entrepreneurs who combine all those in one person.
For thirty years, this organization has been dedicated to the proposition that women in this province combine all of those attributes – even though historically we’ve had a harder time getting some people to recognize that.
Providing access to networking, financing, training and advising services has helped women entrepreneurs in Manitoba to break the glass ceiling in business.
This celebration at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, reminds us that the freedom to dream has historically been limited for women.
By breaking down barriers that have traditionally existed for women entrepreneurs, the Manitoba Women’s Enterprise Centre – no WeMB (W-E MB)– has been a force for progress and equity throughout its three decades.
To all who lead and advise this organization and its clients, thank you for supporting opportunity and progress in Manitoba. Here’s to many more years and breaking barriers and shattering ceilings.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom