Paris, Wednesday, May 7, 2008
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Thank you, Excellency, for this warm welcome. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. And here we are.
It is a great joy for me, my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and our daughter, Marie-Éden, who is celebrating her ninth birthday today, to be here with you.
We had promised Marie-Éden a big party. You see, Marie-Éden, a promise is a promise!
You know how deep the bonds of fellowship uniting Canada and France run.
You know the extent to which these bonds stem from our shared history, which has made us sisters and brothers in language and culture on both sides of the Atlantic.
With this my official visit to France as governor general of Canada, we have the opportunity to celebrate the friendship that ties our two countries and our peoples.
While in Paris, we will have the pleasure of meeting the President of the French Republic, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Senate, the President of the National Assembly, and the Mayor of Paris.
Our journey will then take us beyond the French capital, along the Atlantic coast, from Normandy to La Rochelle to Bordeaux, skirting the ocean that first served as a bridge between France and the Americas, the two forever linked by maritime routes travelled by seafarers like Samuel de Champlain.
This year, as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the City of Québec, let us also salute that spirit of adventure that compelled women and men to cross the great ocean, and Aboriginal peoples to share with them the spirit of that generous and boundless land.
And so our history began to be shaped by encounters, and it is in this same spirit of encounter that we will commemorate this important chapter in our history in La Rochelle, once the major port for sailing to Canada.
As commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces, I will also have the honour and immense privilege of taking part in the ceremony commemorating the 63rd anniversary of VE Day, May 8, 1945, in Normandy, at the invitation of the President of the French Republic.
Following the ceremony at the beach at Ouistreham, the President and I will make our way to the Canadian military cemetery at Bény-Reviers to pay tribute to the soldiers who, in the prime of their lives, fought alongside French soldiers for the shared ideal of justice and freedom.
Those values, which we cherish, continue to sustain and strengthen the already productive relationship between our two countries.
I will also be taking part in ceremonies in Bordeaux to honour the memory of the millions of Africans deported to the Americas-yes, even to Canada-and reduced to slavery.
As the great-great-granddaughter of slaves, I know that it will be with great emotion that I open the dialogue on the need to counter the lack of understanding by some that too often leads to the exclusion of others.
This is how we will approach the dialogue.
Rethinking the world beyond our differences to reflect an ideal of equality, freedom and fellowship, so dear to both our countries, is more important than ever if, as the late Aimé Césaire so beautifully wrote, we hope to become [translation] "porous to all the breaths of the world."
Aimé Césaire, to whom tribute will be paid during a roundtable discussion led by my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, in which a number of thinkers from the French-speaking world will be taking part.
Over the next few days, we will be marking three important chapters in the history we share.
From the great adventure of the French explorers who laid the foundations of the Canada we know today, a land of encounters and mingling of cultures, to an examination of that darkest chapter that was the slave trade. Let us not forget that once France abolished slavery, thousands of women and men were suddenly freed, in New France as in the colonies in the South.
And in the name of respect and dignity, Canadian and French soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder last century to liberate France from tyranny.
Strong in that solidarity, Canada and France are moving forward together to meet the challenges of the day.
But tonight, dear Embassy friends, we would like above all to thank you for your tireless efforts to make this visit, and this celebration of the ties that bind Canada and France, a success and an unforgettable journey.
Jean-Daniel, Marie-Éden and I are grateful to you and, as we begin this official visit, we would like to express to you our eternal friendship.
Speaking of friendship, tonight's celebration is a chance to see some old friends, familiar faces, people for whom we have a great deal of respect. It is wonderful to see you here! Thank you so much for coming.
I could think of no better way to celebrate the linguistic and cultural ties that bind Canada and France than to present the highest Canadian honour to a French citizen who, throughout his long career-one that is still going strong-has striven to highlight the vitality of Francophones and francophiles in America and to help ensure that our artists, our thinkers, our creators become widely known in France.
I had the pleasure of knowing him and working with him when I was a journalist and was immediately struck by his great openness to the French-speaking cultures in America and the depth of his commitment to promoting them.
With a passion for the French language and vibrant ideas, this exceptional man did the extraordinary, transforming a literary program into a weekly not-to-be-missed event for an entire generation, in which many Québécois and Francophones from the Americas and elsewhere have taken part.
He has always remained firm in his belief that purposeful thought is the best way to counter nonsense, convinced that culture should never be pushed to the margins, and sharing his exuberant passion for his language throughout the world.
And so, it is with great pleasure that I invest this man, this friend of Quebec and Canada, this champion of the French language the world over, into the Order of Canada. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bernard Pivot.
