PM designates May 4^th Canadian Navy Centennial Day

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Speaker Kinsella, Speaker Milliken, Minister MacKay, Honourable Senators and Members, Vice-Admiral McFadden, Rear-Admiral Greenwood, members of the Canadians Forces, ladies and gentlemen,

It is truly a great pleasure to be here in the Upper House with our honoured guests, members of the former Royal Canadian Navy and of today’s Canadian Forces Maritime Command on this, the centennial of Canada’s naval service.

On this day in 1910, Governor-General Earl Grey gave Royal Assent to Canada’s Naval Services Act, here in the Red Chamber.  Later, we are to mark the occasion with the commissioning of a Centennial ship’s bell.

But first, we should take note that the founding of the Royal Canadian Navy was a true achievement of nation-building, and no less so for the fact that its full significance took years to be well understood.
 
With the wisdom of hindsight, of course, it is obvious. In the century leading up to that day, Canada’s maritime sovereignty and security had been assured by the greatest military sea power in history.  Britannia ruled the waves, including those that lapped against our shores.  But when that power pulled back, distracted by a rising naval threat on its own doorstep, the ultimate construction of a blue-water Canadian navy became essential.  In fact, it became inevitable.

For, Canadians are a maritime people. We have interests worldwide. We had them 100 years ago, and we have them today.

Commercial interests, which is why we join with other nations to conduct anti-piracy patrols off Somalia.

Humanitarian interests, such as our recent assistance to Haiti after its devastating earthquake.

And above all, security interests.

Three quarters of the world’s people live within 200 nautical miles of a coastline. We may have no ambitions against them, but, as we have learned, what happens in those
other parts of the world can directly affect us.

Vice Admiral McFadden, Commander of Maritime Command, puts it very well: "The world’s oceans no longer serve to shield Canada from far-distant events.  Rather, they connect us through a vast and intricate web of relationships, political, economic, financial and social, that has made us neighbours with all the world’s peoples."

I am told that in the navy’s century of service, more than 600 warships have been sent to sea from our ports ships all bearing the proud prefix HMCS: His or Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship.  In them, the men and women who have sailed in Canada’s name have earned a reputation for bravery, skill and professionalism on every one of the world’s oceans.

During the First World War, they guarded our coasts.

In the Second World War, they fought a vicious war with German submarines - The Battle of the Atlantic, in which they suffered grievous losses.  But they kept the sea lanes open for the convoys of troops and supplies that would ultimately help bring down the Nazis.  They were in the English Channel clearing mines and scrapping with German destroyers.  They were at D-Day, they were in the Pacific, too.  In fact, the last Canadian
to win the Victoria Cross was Canadian naval pilot Robert Hampton Gray, killed as he sank a Japanese destroyer shortly before the war’s end.

Altogether, ladies and gentlemen, the Royal Canadian Navy between 1939 and 1945 lost more than 2,000 men in our fight for freedom.  It also lost 24 ships, ranging in size
from the armed yacht Raccoon, torpedoed in the St Lawrence in 1942, to the destroyer Athabaskan, sunk in the English Channel in 1944.

And, it emerged from the Second World War, the third largest navy in the world.

They served off Korea, and in peacekeeping operations all over the world, and in the Persian Gulf during the mission to Afghanistan.

They serve in the Arctic, in the Caribbean, and wherever they must answer the call.

And, I can say that I have enjoyed their famous naval hospitality a number of times.

Ladies and gentlemen, in one relatively brief century, our sailors have established a mighty tradition of service and heroism.  One that is second to none in the world, among navies that are far older, and in some cases far larger.

And Canadians have come to understand that our way of life, our trade, our security, our capacity to influence events elsewhere depends in significant part upon the men and women of the Canadian navy, and the ships in which they sail.

It has for 100 years, and in the future that is mine to see, I expect that it will continue to be so.

One more thing: we recognize and value the great sacrifice of personal and family life that our naval personnel of all ranks give, up to and including the ultimate sacrifice.  I join with all of you in grieving the loss of Petty Officer Second Class Craig Blake, killed in active service hundreds of miles from the sea while on service to his country in Afghanistan.

We are therefore taking the opportunity afforded by this centennial to make three unique gestures of respect.

We shall introduce a Sea Service Insignia, a visible and formal recognition for those who have spent significant time at sea.

And for officers, we are reintroducing the executive curl.  By this means, we will restore
a distinctive naval-officer identity, that was lost when the National Defence Act unified the three services in 1968.

Finally, I have take great pleasure in announcing that the Government of Canada
has by Royal Proclamation, designated today, May 4, as Canadian Navy Centennial Day.

So, on this great occasion I want to offer my hearty congratulations to Canada’s naval veterans and serving members of Maritime Command.

I’m told two words are enough to do the job: Bravo Zulu.

Well done.

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