Manitoba Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba

The Honourable Anita R. Neville, P.C., O.M.

Rideau Hall Foundation and Catapult Canada Gathering

Remarks by

The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba

RIDEAU HALL FOUNDATION AND CATAPULT CANADA GATHERING

Canadian Museum of Human Rights

Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 5:00 p.m.

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Fellow Canadians, believers in the transformative power of learning – welcome to what I am sure will be an inspiring gathering for all participants.

As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, it is my pleasure to join you here in the heart of Treaty One land and the heartland of the Red River Metis.

As residents of a diverse province that is the ancestral and present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Metis, we have an obligation to work for a healthier future for all Manitobans.

To do that, we must listen and learn, open our minds and work to create opportunities for all.

The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is a fitting setting for a conference dedicated to dismantling barriers to education.

When visitors come to this museum they encounter this phrase, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to an education.” And that education, as the declaration phrases it, is aimed at the “full development of the human personality.”

Canadians are proud that our country ranks near the top in international measurements of education.

But we also know that access to education is not distributed evenly. For too many young Canadians, social, economic and geographic barriers stand in the way.

And so I look forward to learning more about how Catapult Canada and its partners are working to give young Canadians opportunities to learn and build skills.

It’s encouraging to see representatives of many education and community service groups come together from coast to coast to share knowledge in order to help bring down barriers.

With support from the Rideau Hall Foundation, these initiatives will help young people become independent and contributing members of a society built on listening and sharing ideas.

To all who are working to improve access to learning, I thank you for your commitment and I wish you well in helping our country demonstrate its full commitment to the right to education.

Thank you to the Rideau Hall Foundation and Catapult Canada for bringing us together tonight to reaffirm our commitment to learning.