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The Citadelle, Saturday, September 13, 2008
This is a great day for the 1st Battalion of the Royal 22e Régiment.
We have come here today, on the parade square of the Citadelle, not far from the resting place of one of my predecessors and one of the fathers of your regiment, General Georges Vanier, to present and dedicate your new stand of colours.
You are the proud descendants of every soldier who has ever served with the Royal 22e Régiment and whom General Vanier held in such high esteem and whom he admired greatly.
As governor general, Georges Vanier took every opportunity to return to the Citadelle because he held his first command here.
Apparently, he almost always wore the regimental tie, a sign of his attachment to the Royal 22e Régiment.
Just listen to the words of this great man and see how strikingly relevant they remain to this day.
General Vanier liked to think that “[m]ilitary life, forged as it is from discipline and comradeship, provides training in citizenship and encourages a sense of civic responsibility, and this sense of responsibility forms the backbone of our society.
We should never underestimate the contribution a soldier makes as a citizen.”
It is that contribution to civic life, that contribution to society, which Georges Vanier evoked with such conviction and eloquence, that we are celebrating today with this ceremony.
The pride and respect that your colours, comrades, battalion and regiment instill in you are equalled only by the pride and respect that your commitment and dedication to serving your country in French have instilled in us.
You are prepared to make any sacrifice, overcome every difficulty, face every challenge, including heading to some of the troubled regions of the world, where peace is so urgently needed, all in the name of justice and democracy.
Your record of achievements is impressive.
Formed during the Korean War, your battalion, the 1st Battalion of the Royal 22e Régiment, has served time and again under the banner of NATO and the UN, notably in Germany, Cyprus, the Persian Gulf, the former Yugoslavia, Haiti and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Closer to home, the citizens of Montréal and Montérégie will not soon forget your support 10 years ago during the worst ice storm that the region has ever seen.
Ten years later, you are helping the Afghan people to re-establish security in a country that has been ravaged by decades of oppression and violence.
Let us hope that your efforts restore hope and stability, justice and prosperity, where for too long there has been only chaos, iniquity, violence and ruin.
A battalion’s history is marked by heroic deeds and exploits, certainly, but also by sacrifices and losses.
Let us remember those military men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice, in the past as in the present, to ensure that civilians are safe and able to flourish without constraints; to ensure that their rights, freedoms and dignity are respected.
And let us think of the families of those soldiers, who supported them to the very end, knowing the dangers they faced.
I keep your families and loved ones close in my heart.
May this tradition that we are upholding today be a tribute to your conviction.
May it be a tribute to your sense of duty.
May it be a tribute to your solidarity, to that incomparable esprit de corps that is the strength of your battalion and which your colours, traditionally a rallying point along the battle line, so poignantly symbolize.
And may this tradition, these values that we are celebrating today, be for your commander-in-chief the opportunity to tell you how proud I am of you.
Thank you.