> International Tours

> News Articles

> Photogallery

> Discography

> Audio Samples

> Video Samples

Custom Search

NEWS ARTICLES

The Honourable Jason Kenney - Speach

Speaking Points

for

The Honourable Jason Kenney
Secretary of State
(Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity)

on the occasion of a concert
by the Boni Pueri Boys' Choir at the Canadian War Museum


Ottawa, Ontario
February 13, 2008

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

I am delighted to be with you this evening. And I would like to thank the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Canada, Pavel Vošalik, for inviting me to take part in this commemoration of the historic milestones that led to the establishment of the Czech Republic.

At a commemorative ceremony held last November for the victims of Holodomor, the famine in Ukraine, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke about the tyranny of past communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.

He said:

“Between the two world wars and the long cold war that followed, apologists tried to persuade us that the ideology of communism was benign.
They said we should be neutral towards it – “an honest broker.” They said we should learn to live with it – that we had nothing to fear from the Soviet Empire. Canadians knew better. So we took a stand. We stood for freedom and fundamental human rights. We stood against oppression in Ukraine. We stood with its brave people, and those of the other captive nations of Central and Eastern Europe.”
We have been proud to stand with the Czech people in their struggle, and I am very pleased to be with you this evening to commemorate that struggle and to celebrate their having overcome tyranny and repression.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the members of the Boni Pueri choir to Canada. Boni Pueri is one of the most outstanding boys’ choirs in the world, and it is our great fortune that they have been able to include Ottawa as part of their Canadian tour.

For the boys in this choir, who are growing up in the Czech Republic, the sad events that we are commemorating this evening are, thankfully, a thing of the past.

Their future is bright and full of promise, indeed, reflecting the future of their country.

It is bright because democracy triumphed over the brutality and inhumanity of totalitarianism.

Because, throughout the years, millions of brave men and women fought for freedom and human rights – the very lifeblood of the democracies that enrich our lives in Canada, and more recently, in the Czech Republic.

As many of the people in this room know only too well, the path leading to the establishment of the new Republic was not smooth. The challenges were immense: the Munich Pact in 1938 that led to the Nazi invasion; the beginning of the communist regime, in 1948; and Alexander Dubcek’s Prague Spring reforms followed by the Soviet repression, in 1968.

And yet, throughout this dark period, those brave men and women kept faith and ultimately prevailed.

Pope John Paul II, addressing the United Nations in 1995, spoke about the role of solidarity in the success of the non-violent revolutions that took place throughout Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Velvet Revolution, as it was known in Czechoslovakia.

He said that in the face of regimes backed by the power of propaganda and terror:

“solidarity was … a beacon of hope and an enduring reminder that it is possible for man’s historical journey to follow a path which is true to the finest aspirations of the human spirit.” The remarkable solidarity of the Czechoslovak people allowed them to turn a corner. Ultimately, the Czech Republic was created, and the Czech people now enjoy peace and prosperity.

I was able to witness this first-hand while visiting the Czech Republic last June. I was in Prague to present Canada’s formal application for membership on the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research.

Canada sheltered thousands of Czechoslovak political refugees in 1948 and 1968. Today, the personal and family connections that have been established by Czech Canadians are part of the reason Canada and the Czech Republic enjoy a strong and healthy relationship.

This evening, I am pleased to join this community in commemorating their history. Preserving the traditions that enrich our society is the right of all cultural communities, in the context of their families, religious congregations, and cultural associations.

As Canadians, we embrace core values of democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law – values we have in common with the Czech people.

In fact, the promotion of these values is at the heart of our country’s activities in the Czech Republic. Canada cooperated with the Czech people on more than 270 projects funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. We worked together on issues of good governance, private sector development, financial sector reform, and education.

Today, the Czech Republic and Canada have started to work in partnership on aid delivery elsewhere in the world.

To further intercultural relations between our countries, Canada supports Canadian studies programs in universities in Prague and Brno. And in fact, the Canadian Studies Centre at Brno’s Masaryk University plays a role in coordinating programs throughout the Central European region.

The kind of bilateral efforts I have just mentioned are important in fostering the relationship between our two countries.

And this evening’s event provides an excellent opportunity to recognize not only important milestones in Czech history, but also the contributions that the Czech community in Canada has made to this country’s diverse cultural heritage.

In the same address I mentioned earlier, Pope John Paul II said the tears of the twentieth century were preparing the ground for a new springtime of the human spirit.

This is certainly true for the Czech people, and we wish them all the best in the twenty-first century.

In closing, on behalf of the Government of Canada, I want to commend the Embassy of the Czech Republic for organizing this very special evening.

Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) (13. 2. 2008)