Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
NELLIE MCCLUNG TRAILBLAZERS SCHOLARSHIP RECEPTION
Government House
Thursday, September 21, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Friends of learning and equity, welcome to Government House and this celebration of trailblazers and the foundation that encourages them.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I first acknowledge that we are gathered on Treaty One land, and in the heartland of the Red River Metis.
From the 49th parallel to the 60th, this province has been and remains the home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Metis and Inuit.
As we work to build opportunity and prosperity, we must continue to learn about past and present injustices, to hear truths, and to work for understanding and healing for all.
This historic residence has been home to Manitoba’s Lieutenant Governors since 1883 and has stood watch over continuous transformations in that time.
And none have been more profound than the changes women have fought for and achieved in that time.
For 20 years, the Nellie McClung Foundation has worked to raise awareness of those hard-won achievements and the woman who played a central role in the fight for legal equality for Canadian women.
And fittingly, the foundation and its supporters have created the Nellie McClung Trailblazer Scholarships to support continued progress toward economic and educational equality.
These scholarships, encouraging young women to pursue their dreams in STEAM, encompassing the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering the Arts and Math as well as in business and underrepresented trades. The increasing number of women entering these fields are a reflection of Nellie McClung’s vision of a world where women would enjoy the freedom and independence made possible by education.
As Nellie put it: “The economic dependence of women is perhaps the greatest injustice that has been done to us.”
Nellie McClung made that observation in an age when so many careers were either formally or informally off limits to women. And by the purest of coincidence, these happened to be careers that paid the best.
Today, we have seen women make great strides in many fields – including law and medicine – that were previously male-dominated. But there are still many fields where the needle of progress has been stubbornly slow.
In the years ahead, as recipients of these scholarships advance further into their chosen careers, they will light a pathway for more young women and inspire them to search out opportunities to learn, to meet needs in society, and to support their future dreams.
To all of the recipients of these scholarships, since 2019, congratulations on your achievement. May this encourage you to further learning.
To all those who have supported the Nellie McClung Foundation and the creation of these scholarships, thank you for spreading knowledge of a great Manitoban and hope in the hearts of the women and girls of this province.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich.
