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Governor General and Prime Minister unveil Canada's Victoria Cross
16 May 2008
Ottawa, Ontario
Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen: welcome. Dear friends, colleagues, distinguished guests, and particularly to my colleagues Jim Abbott and Betty Hinton: thank you. Through you, thanks to your departments for all that's been done to bring today's announcement to fruition. Special greetings to Vice Chief of Defence Staff Natynczyk and to all the servicemen and women, honoured veterans, and cadets who are with us today. I'm sure many, if not all of you, have been to our magnificent Canadian War Museum here in Ottawa. It can be a very emotional experience. Many visitors find Regeneration Hall particularly moving. A lot of tears are shed there. Walter Allward's sculptures both evoke immense sadness for all those lives cut down by war, and inspire profound hope for a peaceful future.
The hall is not large. It is a simple, understated, quiet space, but that only amplifies its power. It feels distinctly, uniquely Canadian: strong, courageous, and resolute, like the people who wear the uniform of the Canadian Forces and like the hundreds of thousands who've served our country in war and peace.
It is like the 94 extraordinary Canadians serving both with Canadian and British Forces who have been awarded the Victoria Cross, including the 29 who received it after their deaths.
The original Victoria Cross was struck by order of Queen Victoria in 1856. Until then, Britain's highest military decorations were restricted to officers only. This new award could be bestowed on men of all ranks because it was finally acknowledged that heroism knows no bounds. Small and simple, the design acknowledged the humble dignity of the common soldier. Besides, no medal, no matter how ostentatious in design or exotic in nature, could ever match the extraordinary acts of courage and endurance honoured by the Victoria Cross.
I don't intend today to single out any one of Canada's Victoria Cross recipients. Like all of their comrades, they were just regular Canadians, farmers, businessmen, teachers, people from all walks of life. They left their homes and their families to serve our country and defend our values. In combat, they were transformed, performing incredible feats of daring bravery and sacrifice that seemed to transcend the abilities of mere mortals. They achieved battlefield objectives that appeared unattainable. They saved their comrades' lives in extraordinary numbers, and they enshrined the reputation of the Canadian soldier as second to none in the world.
Today, as Her Excellency explained, the Victoria Cross becomes fully and truly Canadian. It retains the essential elements of the original design and even incorporates some of the original Victorian bronze gunmetal. Our Victoria Cross will be made distinctly Canadian by changing Her Majesty's original inscription "For Valour" to the Latin "Pro Valore". In other words, we are using the ancient language employed by both our English and French ancestors to express the universal ideal that they shared. The designers, as the Governor General mentioned, came up with two other ingenious ideas to make the medal ours. Each new Victoria Cross minted in Canada will contain metal from the Confederation Medals of 1867 and each will also contain metals from every region of our great country. Thus the medal will be a proud reminder of our unity and our heritage and of the sacrifices that have helped keep our True North strong and free. It will serve as an inspiration to future generations.
Every day in military missions at home and abroad, Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen are putting their lives on the line for us. In the tradition of their predecessors, they are facing danger with courage, conducting themselves with honour and getting the job done despite the danger. We rarely hear about their everyday heroics, but some day, somewhere, one of those men or women will do something so brave, so gallant, so exceptional that we will hear about it, and he or she will join the legendary group of Canadian Forces who wear the pride of a nation on their chests. In the meantime, I know that I speak for all Canadians in offering our profound thanks to every one of our troops for the hard, dangerous work they do, and I pray for every one of them to be sheltered by the hand of God. Thank you.
