Her Honour
The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, OC, OOnt
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
SPEAKING NOTES FOR THE
Remarks for the Awards Ceremony
of the National Ethnic Press
and Media Council of Canada
Lieutenant Governor’s Suite
October 30, 2015
Mr. Saras, ladies and gentlemen: Good evening! Welcome to the Lieutenant Governor’s Suite.
I want to begin by respectfully acknowledging this territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, the Mississaugas of the New Credit River, the Iroquois Confederacy and the Confederacy of the Ojibwe.
Tonight we celebrate the best of Canada’s ethnic press and media. It is my pleasure to host your event again this year. I warmly welcome the award recipients and guests.
In this past year as Lieutenant Governor, I have been listening to the stories of Ontarians. I have witnessed amazing successes and heard about hard work and challenges and also about hopes and aspirations. I have asked questions about the role of Ontario in the world. What can we contribute to the world, and what does the world offer to us? Ontarians live in an increasingly interconnected world, and Ontario itself continues to grow ever more culturally diverse.
This event is an excellent opportunity to share some of the stories and to explore Ontario’s role because the ethnic press and media play a large and growing role in connecting Ontario communities to each other and to the world. And I certainly want to encourage your work in these areas.
Our success as a culturally diverse society has made us the envy of the world. But we must be eternally vigilant and deliberately and consciously create and maintain the conditions for social inclusion.
Organizations such as the National Ethnic Press and the Media Council of Canada are most significant. Ethnic media creates and fosters an open dialogue among Canadians.
The ability of ethnic media to give voice to new Canadians in their own language and cultural setting helps an untold number of people adjust to new realities and participate effectively in Canadian society.
Thanks in part to you, new Canadians are able to find a cherished sense of belonging and can become better informed and better able to assume civic responsibilities as fully engaged citizens.
Today’s award recipients portray how this dynamic process allows Ontario’s highly diverse population to integrate into Canadian society successfully.
As media professionals, you are also well placed to illuminate for Canadians our place in the community of nations, and to also remind us of the worlds beyond our borders. You bring an international perspective. You illustrate daily the challenges we share in common with the rest of the world and through such exchange of news and stories you illuttstrate and remind us that we also share a common humanity.
I am impressed by what you have all accomplished! My thanks to Thomas Saras for his vision – for bringing us together. And my warmest congratulations to the award recipients. Recognition from one’s professional peers must be most satisfying and fulfilling.
This evening, we celebrate all that you do to enhance social cohesion at home, and build stronger connections abroad.
And as importantly, tonight we celebrate excellence in the craft of journalism. By telling your stories accurately, objectively, and compellingly, you set new standards for this noble profession. Thank you.
And to all of you, family and friends, enjoy the evening!
