Rideau Hall, Tuesday, May 12, 2015

What a pleasure and a privilege it is to welcome you to Rideau Hall, the home of the people of Canada.

Let me start by highlighting what an important anniversary year this is for the Killam Prizes.

Not for the prizes themselves, which as you know were inaugurated in 1981. But rather for the original, generous and visionary bequest made 50 years ago by Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam in her will.

That bequest, which drew from the Killam Trusts set up by Dorothy and her husband Isaac Walton Killam, made these prizes possible.

Now I’d like you to take a moment to think of all that has changed in the half-century since this important gift to Canada was made.

And think of the pace of change, and how it has accelerated with the passage of time.

Let me illustrate with some examples.

Consider the telephone. It was around for 75 years before it reached 50 million users.

The radio reached 50 million people in 38 years.

Television?

It took 13 years to reach 50 million users.

The Internet?

Just 4 years.

Facebook?

3.5 years.

And Angry Birds?

35 days!

You see the trend here.

These are rapidly changing times, and the pace of change is increasing.  

This is particularly true when it comes to technology, but it also applies more broadly in the world today.

Think of our changing demographics. Think how global governance is changing. How innovation is disrupting our lives, societies and cultures. How globalization 3.0, as it has been called, is leading to a hyper-connected world and a truly global economy.

In such times as these we need our leading scholars and researchers to help us make sense of the world and to guide us through change.

And we must support our scholars and researchers in those efforts.

That’s what makes the Killam Prizes so important.

These prizes recognize the importance of what you do for our country and our world, day in and day out. And they help you continue your efforts. 

Your research is nothing if not varied. You work in the natural, health and social sciences, in engineering and in the humanities.

The Killam Prizes were ahead of their time in giving equal value to each diverse field of study.

All are important to our success. We must think creatively and collaboratively—and share our learning widely.

Nowadays, this is how progess is made.

As Albert Einstein said, for every complex problem there is a simple—and wrong—solution.

I want to thank you for your dedication and your pursuit of excellence in your chosen fields over many years.

And I want to encourage you to consider this prize as an invitation to go even further in your research, and to share your learning ever more widely, for the benefit of all.

I also want to encourage you to put your work up for competition against the world’s best. On that front, we’ve been pursuing a global excellence and recognition initiative along with partners in government and academia.

This initiative is simply about ensuring Canada’s best and brightest are entered into competition on the world stage because, as they say in hockey, you miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.

Each of you is a worthy contender for the world’s top prizes. So keep going. I look forward to hearing of your future success.

Congratulations on all you have achieved, and on receiving this wonderful honour.

Have a great evening!