Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
Speech on the Occasion of the Canada Day Celebration
Parliament Hill, Tuesday, July 1st, 2003
http://www.gg.ca/media/speeches/archive-2003/20030701_e.asp
Here on Parliament Hill today it’s very hot and very sunny. But we’re all here to celebrate together what we know to be our heritage and what we know that we share as Canadians. The thousands of you in front of me proves it ? as do the millions across the nation, gathered with family, friends and neighbours.
Canada Day is our day. Not only do we celebrate the birthday of our country but to most of us Canadians it is the holiday of the summer marking a time when we can do the things that all Canadians are used to doing. It’s a time when we can go hiking in the mountains, or go fishing, or take a canoe trip, or take our families to conservation areas to have picnics.
For John Ralston Saul and me, we’re fortunate enough to have a cottage on an isolated island with no electricity or hot water. That’s the way we like it. I know others like to grab their tent and sleeping bags and take a trip to the Torngat Mountains or Algonquin Park or to Cap Forillon in the Gaspé. Those lucky to live or travel north of 60o can choose to spend family time together on the land, bathed in nearly 24-hour sunlight. We’re fortunate to have a network of parks and public areas across the country that all of us can share, where we can step into the wilderness. And the wilderness is a large part of Canada, part of our north ? the idea of north.
In the summer, Canadians do wonderful things.
Sometimes we go to a family cottage where our parents and grandparents have gone for three generations. Sometimes we drive from place to place in Canada getting a look at the Prairies or at the Rockies or at Gros Morne. Or we go off to see the whales at Tadoussac, or the dinosaurs in the Bad Lands of Alberta.
In the summer, we get to see the RCMP Musical Ride as they travel across the country. And we have outdoor concerts and barbecues and enjoy each other’s company. We’re able to swim in clean, fresh water or the bracing waves of the Atlantic or Pacific. I know people who are bicycling across the country this summer and hope to do it in a total time of six weeks. There are people doing the Trans-Canada Trail in various segments. There are people fishing in the salmon streams of New Brunswick or Lac La Ronge in northern Saskatchewan. All of these activities are what we participate in because we are Canadian.
I thought of this the other day as I was swearing in new Canadians at Rideau Hall, from thirteen different countries. That all of them, if they wanted to, could have access to this beauty, to this sensation that the land exists outside of us and yet we are part of it. That they too have the opportunity to participate fully in the wonderfully rich life of this country and accept the duties and responsibility that go with citizenship. For that is how we instil the continuity of our country.
There is nothing that we do that doesn’t contribute to the pattern of being Canadian. Whether it’s paddling the waterways of Temagami, walking through the silent B.C. woods picking mushrooms, horseback-riding across our vast prairies, trekking over the Arctic tundra, or biking along the shore of the St. Lawrence. Whether working for Meals on Wheels, canvassing for Heart & Stroke or running a marathon for cancer research. We show by these actions the important values that we share as Canadians.
We must remember always that people have suffered and even sacrificed so that we could carry on this way of life ? a way of life that, in our imagination, is bounded only by our belief in ourselves as Canadians. Imagine Canada, imagine it in all its beauty and possibility ? and in your mind, you’ll know what I mean.
And I feel that we share this idea of the north, this ideal of limitless space leading towards the north, with other circumpolar countries that touch the Arctic Circle: countries that like us have been enriched in knowledge of the land by Aboriginal peoples.
This year and next, John and I intend to travel with a group of Canadians to these circumpolar countries to show how we live and how we think about things as Canadians. And we want to find out from the other circumpolar countries how they live with the kind of isolation our climate brings and with the kind of challenges to the northern environment that we all face.
Meanwhile, let’s take time to enjoy our summer. Let’s remember that the gift of our land is a very special gift. Let’s be right with it, and right for it. And let us join in celebrating the birthday of our wonderful country ? Canada.
Speech on the Occasion of the Canada Day Celebration
Parliament Hill, Tuesday, July 1st, 2003
http://www.gg.ca/media/speeches/archive-2003/20030701_e.asp
Here on Parliament Hill today it’s very hot and very sunny. But we’re all here to celebrate together what we know to be our heritage and what we know that we share as Canadians. The thousands of you in front of me proves it ? as do the millions across the nation, gathered with family, friends and neighbours.
Canada Day is our day. Not only do we celebrate the birthday of our country but to most of us Canadians it is the holiday of the summer marking a time when we can do the things that all Canadians are used to doing. It’s a time when we can go hiking in the mountains, or go fishing, or take a canoe trip, or take our families to conservation areas to have picnics.
For John Ralston Saul and me, we’re fortunate enough to have a cottage on an isolated island with no electricity or hot water. That’s the way we like it. I know others like to grab their tent and sleeping bags and take a trip to the Torngat Mountains or Algonquin Park or to Cap Forillon in the Gaspé. Those lucky to live or travel north of 60o can choose to spend family time together on the land, bathed in nearly 24-hour sunlight. We’re fortunate to have a network of parks and public areas across the country that all of us can share, where we can step into the wilderness. And the wilderness is a large part of Canada, part of our north ? the idea of north.
In the summer, Canadians do wonderful things.
Sometimes we go to a family cottage where our parents and grandparents have gone for three generations. Sometimes we drive from place to place in Canada getting a look at the Prairies or at the Rockies or at Gros Morne. Or we go off to see the whales at Tadoussac, or the dinosaurs in the Bad Lands of Alberta.
In the summer, we get to see the RCMP Musical Ride as they travel across the country. And we have outdoor concerts and barbecues and enjoy each other’s company. We’re able to swim in clean, fresh water or the bracing waves of the Atlantic or Pacific. I know people who are bicycling across the country this summer and hope to do it in a total time of six weeks. There are people doing the Trans-Canada Trail in various segments. There are people fishing in the salmon streams of New Brunswick or Lac La Ronge in northern Saskatchewan. All of these activities are what we participate in because we are Canadian.
I thought of this the other day as I was swearing in new Canadians at Rideau Hall, from thirteen different countries. That all of them, if they wanted to, could have access to this beauty, to this sensation that the land exists outside of us and yet we are part of it. That they too have the opportunity to participate fully in the wonderfully rich life of this country and accept the duties and responsibility that go with citizenship. For that is how we instil the continuity of our country.
There is nothing that we do that doesn’t contribute to the pattern of being Canadian. Whether it’s paddling the waterways of Temagami, walking through the silent B.C. woods picking mushrooms, horseback-riding across our vast prairies, trekking over the Arctic tundra, or biking along the shore of the St. Lawrence. Whether working for Meals on Wheels, canvassing for Heart & Stroke or running a marathon for cancer research. We show by these actions the important values that we share as Canadians.
We must remember always that people have suffered and even sacrificed so that we could carry on this way of life ? a way of life that, in our imagination, is bounded only by our belief in ourselves as Canadians. Imagine Canada, imagine it in all its beauty and possibility ? and in your mind, you’ll know what I mean.
And I feel that we share this idea of the north, this ideal of limitless space leading towards the north, with other circumpolar countries that touch the Arctic Circle: countries that like us have been enriched in knowledge of the land by Aboriginal peoples.
This year and next, John and I intend to travel with a group of Canadians to these circumpolar countries to show how we live and how we think about things as Canadians. And we want to find out from the other circumpolar countries how they live with the kind of isolation our climate brings and with the kind of challenges to the northern environment that we all face.
Meanwhile, let’s take time to enjoy our summer. Let’s remember that the gift of our land is a very special gift. Let’s be right with it, and right for it. And let us join in celebrating the birthday of our wonderful country ? Canada.
