Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
40TH ANNIVERSARY, WINNIPEG CHINESE CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTRE
Kum Koon Garden
Thursday, December 14, 2023, 4:30 p.m.
(please check against delivery)
Members and friends of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre, thank you for the opportunity to share in this celebration of a great organization.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered in the heart of Treaty One land and the heartland of the Red River Metis.
We are meeting in a province that has always been home to many peoples, as the present-day and ancestral home of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Inuit and Metis peoples.
Through listening and understanding, through sharing our traditions and our cultures, the people of this diverse province are working to build a province that provides opportunities for all.
For 40 years, the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre has supported and enhanced this city’s Chinese community and brought Winnipeggers of all backgrounds together to enjoy the fruits of cultural diversity.
By developing housing and infrastructure, organizing festivals and producing arts performances, hosting arts and cultural classes and workshops – you have brought life to Chinatown, the larger downtown area and the city as a whole.
At the age of 40, an individual will often take stock and ask some challenging questions. Am I where I want to be in life? Am I fulfilling the goals I set for myself?
When we look at the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre at the age of 40 we see an organization with many proud accomplishments to its credit. And with new events like night markets and the development of a museum at the centre, this is an organization that is very much looking forward.
As Lieutenant Governor, I congratulate all of the volunteers, staff and board members, past and present, who have built and sustained this organization. And I thank all of those who have made today’s celebration possible.
May you continue to enhance our city and our province throughout your next 40 years.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich.
