Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
POLICE AND PEACE OFFICERS MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY
Memorial Park, Winnipeg
Sunday, September 24, 2023, 11:00 a.m.
(please check against delivery)
Friends, families, protectors of peace and fellow Manitobans, welcome to this ceremony of remembrance and of gratitude.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I acknowledge that we are gathered on Treaty One land, and in the heartland of the Red River Metis. The province we love – and that police and peace officers make secure – is the ancestral and the present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Metis and Inuit peoples.
Together, we each have a part to play in building understanding, goodwill, healing and opportunity for all in this beautiful province.
As Manitobans and as Canadians, we long to live in safe communities with high levels of public trust and co-operation.
We want to live in a province and a nation where disagreements are resolved through discussion, where lives and valuables are secure and where rules designed to keep society functioning fairly and safely are respected by all.
However, human nature being the way it is, that ideal won’t come to life on its own. We require a legal system enforced by dedicated professionals to protect the lives and the rights of all Canadians.
Today, across Canada, we remember the men and women who have lost their lives in service of that vision while protecting their communities as police and peace officers.
This annual memorial day was established in 1998 in Canada. Each September since then, we have gathered to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of others.
And as we bow our heads to those lost, we also give thanks to all who serve in this capacity.
Theirs is a life of long and odd hours, serving in all weather, in all conditions, responding to emergencies and working with the knowledge that a deadly danger can emerge out of the most innocent moment.
Their dedication makes the people of our province and our country safer and better able to enjoy all the benefits conferred by life in Canada.
Whether you work in policing, in corrections, as a conservation officer, or in any other capacity as a peace officer, as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and representative of His Majesty King Charles, I thank you for your dedication to your country and your fellow Canadians.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich.