Whitehorse, Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Good evening. Both Sharon and I are grateful for the warm welcome we have received during our first official visit to Yukon.

Let me begin by thanking the Ta’an Kwach’an Council and the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, for welcoming us onto your land today.

Thank you as well to Premier Fentie for hosting this fabulous gathering.

We are thrilled to visit the North, particularly Yukon. Margaret Atwood spoke the truth when she described Yukon as, “A land that inspires respect; in fact, it requires it.”

Although we have had the good fortune of visiting Yukon several times before, it has not dulled our reaction to the sheer majesty of its landscape and the warmth of its people.

One of our stops will be in the oldest continuously inhabited part of Canada: the community of Old Crow. I am looking forward to seeing how Old Crow’s population of less than 300 people live together in the most northerly community in Yukon. For me, it speaks volumes that of the few public structures in Old Crow, one of them is a youth centre. That building is an affirmation of the commitment of all Yukoners to families and to children.

Yukoners know that children and families are our future.

And it is the subject of the future that I will be addressing, both in Old Crow, and also when I speak to students and faculty at Yukon College.

As many of you know, I have spent most of my career in the academic world. As an educator and administrator, I had the privilege of spending much of my life around students, and I often felt that they were the ones who were teaching me.

The smart and caring Canada that we envision will use knowledge to improve the human condition, at home and abroad. Knowledge is the foundation on which a society is built, and innovation is the tool we use to build and improve it. At its most basic level, innovation is about crafting a new idea to do things better. It’s about seeing things differently, imagining the as-yet unseen or unachieved.

Having built a nation that learns, we must also foster one that cares. Ken Coates, the dean of Arts at the University of Waterloo, once told me that students in Yukon are known for going to their professors to ask what they can do to serve their home community.

That is not only commendable; it is also inspiring.

We are looking forward to meeting with Yukoners over the next few days, and to learning more about your rich history, culture and environment. In so many ways, Yukon continues to inspire Canadians and the world, and I encourage each of you to continue your efforts as we build the smarter, more caring Canada of the 21st century.

Thank you.