Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
RECEPTION FOR NEEDS INC.
Government House
Thursday, April 20, 2023
(please check against delivery)
Fellow Manitobans, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Government House and this celebration of a great organization and its people.
It is my privilege to acknowledge that we are meeting on Treaty One land and in the heartland of the Red River Metis. I acknowledge that the province we love, and that I represent as Lieutenant Governor, is the present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Red River Metis peoples.
We acknowledge northern Manitoba includes lands that were, and are, the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
Together, we all strive to advance understanding, healing and reconciliation and work as partners for a better future.
For generations, Canadians have believed that education is the key to a better future for everyone, and more recently, we have realized supporting education means helping students prepare to learn and helping them bridge their classroom experience with their lives in the wider world.
Years ago, I had a window into observing the importance of a holistic and broad-minded approach to learning in my work on the Winnipeg School Board and in career education and training.
Students come to the classroom with their own unique gifts and needs, experiences and dreams. We need to make sure each student is valued and encouraged to discover and to succeed.
For students new to Canada, including those arriving as refugees, adapting to new languages, new cultures and new environments can by bewildering or isolating.
That is why I’m so pleased to welcome the staff and supporters of Needs to Government House today.
This is an organization born out of one immigrant woman’s challenges – and achievements – in adapting to a new country. An organization that grew into an agency that last year served 4,600 clients. What an inspiring made-in-Manitoba success story.
As the grand-daughter of members of an earlier wave of Canadian immigration, I know that newcomers bring with them faith and hope for the future and a dedication to their children and their community, but I also know that the challenges of adapting to a new land are many.
Your work – whether in helping children get ready for school, offering support in schools, or preparing young people to earn work experience – helps families across our city to achieve their dreams and benefit from all of the opportunities our country has to offer.
By helping newcomers to Canada on their learning journey, you help Canada to become the welcoming, equitable and caring place we all dream it can be.
Thank you for making our city, province and country better.
Merci…Meegwich.
