Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
WELCOME RECPETION, COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION
Legislative Building
Monday, July 10, 2023
(please check against delivery)
Fellow Canadians, members of the Council of the Federation – welcome to the heart of Canada and to a gathering focused on issues close to many Canadians’ hearts.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I honour and acknowledge that we are gathered on Treaty One land, and in the heartland of the Red River Metis.
This beautiful and diverse province is also the ancestral and the present-day home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples.
I also recognize that northern Manitoba includes lands that were, and are, the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
Together, we will continue to work to hear truths, and to advance understanding, opportunity, and healing for all.
As Canada’s premiers, you lead governments that have a direct impact on the lives of every Canadian – through health care, education, economic development, infrastructure and countless other responsibilities.
Each of you has taken on a great commitment – to listen, to lead, to persuade, to envision new possibilities, to respond to new challenges. And to do all of this in the spotlight.
Our form of government and our way of life would not be possible without the willingness of individuals to take on such responsibilities.
In our interconnected world, the issues you must deal with are too great for any one province or territory. And indeed many of them across national borders as well.
So gatherings such as this play an essential role in providing innovative and responsive government from coast to coast to coast.
Canadians care deeply about the issues that you will be discussing during the coming days. They are proud of our health-care system and concerned about its future. Canadians cherish the vision of Canada as a place of opportunity, a place where a good life is within reach for all.
And so the issues of health care, affordability and economic growth are central to the hopes and dreams of all the people you serve.
Here in Manitoba, we like to call ourselves the heart of Canada, in part because of our geography. The East-West centre of Canada is just a little east of Winnipeg, and our port of Churchill gives us a direct connection to Nunavut.
But we also like to think of the heart symbolically – to represent caring and compassion – Canadian virtues that Manitobans hold dear.
I wish you a productive and successful meeting. And I hope that keeping in mind the lives of the Canadians you serve inspires you to innovation, co-operation and continued dedication to the challenges of leadership.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich.
