Rideau Hall, Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Welcome, all of you, to Rideau Hall!

What a fantastic night to watch a movie under the stars.

Tonight, we have two special showings.

First, an episode of the critically-acclaimed “Schitt’s Creek”—and we’re fortunate to have the producers of that show with us here today!

Then, our feature presentation, which is a humorous and very entertaining documentary about something we have surely all thought about at one time or another:

What it means to be Canadian.

It’s called, fittingly, Being Canadian.

It features a who’s who of Canadian stars—I know you’ll recognize more than a few of them!

Some of these artists have received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards. Some are recipients of the Order of Canada.

The director and the host of this humorous road trip across the country is Robert Cohen, a proud Canadian who works in Hollywood.

Both of us—he in this movie, I in my capacity as governor general—have travelled across Canada, visited communities, met with our citizens, tried to take the pulse of this country.

We know so many Canadians—here at home and around the world—who are defining what it means to “be Canadian” every day.

This film is one take on what that means. 

This film showcases some of our most talented people—mostly actors, filmmakers, musicians and talents who work at bringing to life Canadian stories.

I’d also like to express my gratitude to all the partners who helped make this event happen. Your commitment to Canadian art is an inspiration.

I hope all of you have a wonderful time and go home with a better sense of what being Canadian means to you.

Thank you.