Rideau Hall, Monday, June 30, 2008

I am delighted to welcome you here to Rideau Hall, particularly since this is a time of great celebration for Canada.

We are getting ready to celebrate our country’s 141^st birthday. This is always a time of enormous pride for Canadians.

As well, 2008 commemorates an important anniversary.

Four hundred years ago, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded the City of Québec, which became one of the launching points for La Francophonie in North America.

This anniversary has given us the opportunity to look back over our history and to celebrate 400 years of French presence on this continent. The festivities will begin in the Old Capital on July 3.

During this time of celebration, the City of Québec will host the Sommet de la Francophonie this fall, where we will be delighted to welcome a delegation from Lebanon.

Dialogue, partnership and fellowship mark the cornerstones of the spirit in which member and observer countries of La Francophonie will move forward together to achieve their common objectives.

Canadians of Lebanese descent have long helped to enrich the lives of all Canadians in all aspects of society.

It is therefore with a great deal of interest that we are following Lebanon’s efforts to address the challenges it is currently facing, notably with respect to its stability and prosperity.

Your new president will soon be forming his cabinet. I can assure you that Canada supports your country during this period of change.

Kazakhstan is also undergoing a period of profound change on all fronts.

Ambassador Abildayev, your presence in Canada bodes well for the future. It will certainly help to facilitate trade and strengthen the ties between our two countries.

Kazakhstan and Canada already share a commitment to youth and education. And that commitment has born fruit: over the past two years, the number of Kazakh students registered at Canadian colleges and universities has risen from 28 to 180.

Although you have arrived with summer in full swing, you will find that our countries also share a winter climate: Astana has even bumped Ottawa as the third coldest capital in the world! I think that perhaps the shock will be less severe for you and your family.

Canada contains the world, and we Canadians treasure our diversity, for it brings us unlimited possibilities.

The historic bonds between Canada and Sierra Leone are eloquent proof of this.

These bonds have long united our countries. It was in Halifax and other parts of Nova Scotia that former slaves from the United States sought refuge following the Revolutionary War in America, and where they found their freedom. Others came from Jamaica and Canada also.

And it was from Halifax that they set out, near the end of the 18^th century, to found Freetown in Sierra Leone. To this day, the influence of Canada’s maritime provinces can be seen in the style of homes and in the names of streets and public places in that city.

We are determined to support Sierra Leone’s efforts to ensure stability within its borders and in that region. We were greatly impressed by the manner in which you conducted your presidential and legislative elections.

This certainly bodes well for the upcoming local elections.

I would also like to welcome the Ambassador for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

There is a long tradition of ties between the people of Canada and the people of Korea dating back to the late 1800s when Canadian teachers and doctors went to Korea to provide assistance.

We are hopeful that the future will hold greater opportunities for people-to-people contacts between our two countries.

Canada, as you know, is delighted by the progress that has been made in the six-party talks and sees this as a promise of hope.

I have no doubt that all of you here will give new momentum to our trade, diplomatic, cultural and social relations.

You can henceforth count on the friendship and support of Canadians to forge and facilitate what we hope will be lasting ties.

I urge you to take this opportunity to meet with them. You will find that they are open and share your hopes for peace, freedom and prosperity.

You will see that the rule of law, respect for human dignity, equality between women and men, freedom of speech and the responsibility to act, good governance, and sustainable development are values that we are committed to promoting, here at home and around the world, and that they are part and parcel of what our citizenship means to us and the role we want to play in the world.

I believe that the time has come, now more than ever, for us to focus on our solidarities rather than on our differences, on the values we share rather than on borders that separate us. Humanity must succeed in this. This is our greatest responsibility.

The dialogue we have begun today must steer us in this direction and consider the interests and needs of all.

I hope to be able to see you again and to hear your impressions of our country and your ideas for bringing our peoples together.

And so, to friendship, to sharing, and to solidarity!