Ottawa, Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The view that history offers us is always incomplete, sometimes even very imperfect. From time to time we must return and cast new light on that picture. With the Aboriginal Spiritual Journey to the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars, at last we have the opportunity to recapture accurately and fully the vital role played by Aboriginal peoples in helping many countries to freedom.

The freedom with which our country is blessed must not be confined to some people and kept beyond the reach of others. I would go so far as to say that freedom starts in Canada with the sweeping landscapes and fertile soil whose spirit was interpreted for us by Aboriginal peoples. It was those women and those men who were the first to celebrate its riches; they taught us to take root in this continent. Aboriginal peoples are our deepest roots in the soil of America.

And so it is unworthy of a country like ours, so proud of its achievements and its position in the world, to deny due recognition to the priceless contribution that Aboriginal peoples have made to our history, our unique identity and our aspirations for the future.

In this Year of the Veteran, we have a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to members of Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities who fought alongside their fellow Canadians in the Allied forces during the two great conflicts of the past century. It is also an opportunity to speak out loud and clear, recalling their heroic deeds for the people of Canada and the entire world.

May we never forget the sacrifices they made for freedom and justice. To me it is unacceptable that citizens of this country should be left out of our history books and our collective memory.

This is why I am so happy to see that young people are joining in your delegation, and that they will go with you to the battlefields and cemeteries. Their presence among you will help to keep alive the memory of those painful but far-off days, when women and men left everything behind them—family and friends—to cross the ocean and free other women and men from tyranny.

Like you, I believe that healing comes when we are able to acknowledge and transcend our grief and our losses, and when we commit to making the forces of creation triumph over the forces of destruction. This is why we and generations to come have much to gain from the spiritual ceremonies that your Elders will perform, calling the spirits of so many fallen warriors back to their homeland.

I am pleased that you will conduct other spiritual ceremonies in your own communities after you return from Europe. These will allow everyone to welcome home the spirits of the warriors who never made the journey back.

In my view and in my heart, this Aboriginal Spiritual Journey has immense importance. It rights a historic wrong and inscribes forever in our memory our gratitude to our Aboriginal veterans. We still have much to learn about what history has overlooked, and this first step that we are taking today toward a journey of recognition is an action of openness and hope for all humanity.

This is why I wanted so much to accompany you and experience with you this decisive moment in the history of our country.

Thank you so much.