April 27, 2014

Message from the Governor General of Canada
on the Occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day 

OTTAWA—When diversity is stamped out and eliminated in the vilest way possible, we all pay the price. During the Holocaust, Jewish people were treated as less than human. Entire families and communities were erased. Many others deemed different were also persecuted and subjected to horrors beyond description.

In today’s Canada, Jewish families live in peace, thriving and contributing to our society. But no country is perfect. It is a constant struggle to ensure that we never take for granted our freedom of religion or our diversity. We all must strive to protect the cultural differences that make this such a wonderful country in which to live. Because when we fail to embrace our distinctive society or to understand one another, we are failing the six million who died and the many more who suffered.

On Yom ha-Shoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, let us all commit to the values of tolerance, openness and respect that Canadians hold so dear.

David Johnston

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Media information:

Marie-Ève Létourneau
Rideau Hall Press Office
613-998-0287
marie-eve.letourneau@gg.ca