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April 13, 2010 by Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean In 2006, when I undertook State visits to five African countries—Algeria, Mali, Ghana, South Africa and Morocco—as my first trip to the continent, I called it and treated it like a journey of hope. I wanted to assess the strengths and see the vigour of...

April 26, 2010 by Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean It was a changing Africa that greeted us as we travelled through Senegal to Cape Verde, through the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Why go to Africa? To do what? What good will it do? People ask these same questions again and again, spread...

International Symposium “Haiti Today, Haiti Tomorrow:Contrasting Perspectives” Ottawa, Tuesday, April 6, 2010 In these turbulent times, the immediate, and certainly most promising, response to the burning question ‘what do we do in the face of an unprecedented catastrophe?’ is to show unshakeable so...

Order of Canada Investiture Ceremony Rideau Hall, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 At the heart of all the storms weathering humanity and all the uncertainty bombarding the world, there are women and men reviving hope. The people we are celebrating today are of that same calibre. We are incredibly blessed t...

April 9, 2010 Message from Her Majesty The Queen As proud and grateful Canadians, we pause today to mark not only the ninety-third anniversary of this Nation’s victory at Vimy Ridge but also to pay tribute to the passing of a truly remarkable generation who helped to end the most terrible conflict t...

National Commemorative Ceremony Marking The End of an Era Ottawa, Friday, April 9, 2010 The freedom we enjoy in Canada, our country, came at a very high cost. Unfortunately, freedom is not shared by most people on the planet and is still fragile today. At the turn of the last century, men and women ...

April 10, 2010 Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, on the death of President Lech Kaczynski OTTAWA – It was with shock and deep sadness that my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I learned of the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of Presi...

April 11, 2010 Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, on the death of Private Tyler William Todd OTTAWA—It was with great sadness that my husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I learned of the death of another member of the Cana...

State Dinner hosted by His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade,President of the Republic of Senegal Dakar (Senegal), Thursday, April 15, 2010 I would like to start by saying how delighted I am. Delighted to be with you here today as I begin my third big trip to Africa. Delighted to once again find myself in t...

Discussion on the Role of the Media in the Emergenceof a New Africa Dakar, Senegal, Friday, April 16, 2010 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY As Governor General of Canada and a former journalist, I am delighted to participate in this discussion on the role and impact of the media in a world that must be both u...

Art Matters Forum on the Social Role of the Artist Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, April 17, 2010 I would like to start this 49th Art Matters forum, the ninth to be held outside Canada and the first to be held in Africa, with a quotation from the philosopher Hannah Arendt. Arendt said that “we humanize wh...

April 16, 2010 Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, on the occasion of National Volunteer Week OTTAWA— National Volunteer Week, which is taking place this year from April 18 to April 24, reminds us how the active participation of hundreds of th...

Speech to Members of the National Assembly and Senateof the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa, DRC, Monday, April 19, 2010 I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to address this noble assembly and I thank you for welcoming me so warmly. I would like to take this opportunity to th...

State Luncheon hosted by His Excellency Joseph Kabila,President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa, DRC, Monday, April 19, 2010 Thank you very much for the warm welcome you have given us and for hosting this dinner in honour of Canada’s first State visit to the Democratic Republic of t...

Roundtable on the Role of Women Kinshasa, DRC, Monday, April 19, 2010 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY The role that we, women, play in societies’ development is undeniable. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as in many African countries, the entire organization of family, social and economic life is ba...

Roundtable on the Role of Journalism in the Democratization Process Butare, Rwanda, Thursday, April 22, 2010 The Canadian delegation accompanying me and I are happy to be here with young, dynamic Rwandans—young women and men, the women drummers who demonstrated their determination—to take part in a ...

Official Dinner hosted by His Excellency, Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires,President of the Republic of Cape Verde Island of Sal (Cape Verde), Friday, April 23, 2010 I would like to begin by thanking you, Excellency, for the warm welcome you have given us here in Cape Verde. I cannot think of a better w...

Discurso por ocasião do jantar official oferecido porsua Excelência Pedro Verona Rodrigues PiresPresidente da República do Cabo Verde Ilha do Sal (Cabo Verde)Sexta-feira 23 de abril de 2010 A SER VERIFICADO COM O DISCURSO Antes de tudo, gostaria de agradecer a V.Sa. Senhor Presidente, de sua tão cal...

April 21, 2010 Statement by the Governor General of Canadain Kigali, Rwanda, in the presence of President Paul Kagame KIGALI—In 2004, Canada's Parliament solemnly declared April 7 a day of Remembrance for the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, encouraging all Canadians, as well as the government,...

Presentation of Credentials(Holy See, Vietnam, Kuwait, Peru) Rideau Hall, Wednesday, April 28, 2010 I believe the ties that unite us beyond borders and beyond differences are so precious, and that they must be strengthened in the name of greater global solidarity. That was the spirit in which I went...