28 August 2008
Inuvik, NT
Speaking at the very location where John George Diefenbaker officially dedicated the town of Inuvik, NT, Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that Canada's new northern flagship Polar class icebreaker project will be named after the former Prime Minister.
"In 1961, our Prime Minister Diefenbaker came here to officially inaugurate the birth of this community. It was the first time a Canadian Prime Minister had ever traveled north of the Arctic Circle," said the Prime Minister. "He was a man who saw Canada and Canadians not as they were, but as they could be – a country and a people destined to become one of the greatest nations on earth. But only, he realized, if we accepted the challenges and seized the opportunities presented by the North."
The Diefenbaker governments of 1957-1963 are today widely recognized for their successes in improving the quality of life of Northern residents and strengthening Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic.
"Today I am pleased to formally announce the commencement of a national Arctic sovereignty project – the building of Canada's new Polar Class icebreaker, the largest, most powerful icebreaker Canada has ever owned," said the Prime Minister. "We are going to harness the energy and expertise of Government, the Coast Guard, the Canadian Navy, Canadian shipbuilders, and all the communities that support these institutions to this project. I can think of no better name for this project, for this ship, than the name of the man who spoke a few meters away from where I am standing today: John George Diefenbaker."
The new John G. Diefenbaker Polar class icebreaker will possess greater icebreaking capabilities than any other vessel currently in the Canadian fleet. When completed, this $720 million project will replace the Louis S. St. Laurent, which is expected to be decommissioned in 2017.
"In 1961 Prime Minister Diefenbaker stood here, looked to the northern horizon, and spoke of 'a new world emerging above the Arctic Circle.' 'It is this world,' he said, 'a new world for all the people of the Arctic regions, that we in Canada are working to build,'" concluded the Prime Minister. "Today I look to that same vast horizon and say, Mr. Diefenbaker – we will get the job done."
