Remarks by the Hon. James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

national ethnic press & media council of canada awards

Lieutenant Governor’s Suite, Toronto / 15 September 2005 

Welcome to Queen’s Park. I am happy to see that so many have come to mark this event. This evening we are honouring 42 outstanding Canadians who have come here from not just Ontario but across all of Canada. This evening, we are celebrating their contributions to our country.

Since the early 19th century, Canadians have relied upon their community newspapers for information on local, national and international developments. Their most particular contributions have always been, however, their coverage of events of the community.

I am not telling you anything new when I say that we have all been enriched by the mix of cultures in Canada. In the late 19th century, many immigrants arrived from Eastern Europe and Asia, but some did not get the kind of welcome they deserved. Between the wars, many new citizens arrived from Southern Europe, and after the war, a flood of arrivals poured in from Europe. Since the sixties, there has been a huge enriching flow of immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America. In the Greater Toronto Area alone, there are cultural communities from more than 150 countries.

In addition to the immense richness their inclusion in the fabric of Canada has brought, the new Canadians have established newspapers to serve their own communities and the larger Canadian society as a whole. Coming in some cases from countries where freedom of the press is not respected, they have become fierce defenders of the human rights of all.

Today, Canada is home to more than 250 newspapers representing over 40 cultures. Fourteen radio stations – and television stations in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver – broadcast in many languages. And almost 50 digital specialty services are available. Anyone who wants to learn a new language can tune into stations broadcasting in Spanish, Chinese, Hindi.

I commend the National Ethnic Press & Media Council for playing a leadership role in high-lighting the role of ethnic communities in our society. And I congratulate this evening’s award recipients for their distinct and outstanding contributions to their communities in particular and to Canada as a whole. I am proud to be here tonight and to be associated with these outstanding recipients.