PM participates in Dryden Centennial

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Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you Greg Rickford for your kind introduction, and thank you for the outstanding work you do representing the constituents of the huge and great riding of Kenora in the Parliament of Canada.

Greetings to Mayor Anne Krassilowsky.

It’s great to back in Dryden, a city I first set foot in forty years ago during a cross-Canada family road trip.  I’ve been across the Trans-Canada many times since, and viewed some fascinating stretches of this country’s landscape, but nothing quite compares to the trek across Northern Ontario and arriving in Dryden.

Your beautiful city is like an oasis on the Canadian Shield, an island of civilization in an ocean of unspoiled wilderness.

Founded by Ontario Agriculture Minister John Dryden in 1895, Dryden was settled by tough pioneers.  They saw the region’s great potential in forestry, farming and mining.  As the Ojibway had known for generations, the settlers soon learned that the lakes, rivers and forests of the Kenora district were teeming with fish and game.

In the midst of such plenty, they saw a future of unlimited possibility.  Not a whistle stop on the railroad or highway, but a place to raise families, start businesses and build a community.  And today, that community is officially one hundred years old.

Happy birthday Dryden!

I’m told the Dryden Centennial Facebook page is filling up with posts from people across Canada and around the world.  Many are planning to arrive for homecoming week later this summer.

Or for Moosefest, or the Walleye Masters Tournament, or this weekend’s spectacular airshow.  Or just, to visit old friends and family.

I understand your famous native son Chris Pronger is coming.  Now I’m not going to speculate on what he might be bringing with him.  But, I know, from my trip to the dressing room in Vancouver, that he will be bringing
Canada’s Gold Medal from the Olympic Games!

So, ladies and gentlemen, your centennial is going to be a great year, a year for renewing old friendships and reliving fond memories.  But anniversaries like this are not just about the past; they also have a way of forcing us to look ahead and of stimulating ideas for the future.

When you consider how much has been achieved in Dryden’s first century, it is natural to think about what the next one holds.  I believe that, like Canada itself, Dryden’s future knows no bounds.  Already internationally famed for year-round outdoor recreation, the city and region are working on some exciting ideas to promote local industry worldwide and to use cutting-edge information technologies to do it.

And, of course, governments at all levels are doing their part to build infrastructure, like a new, state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant, under the Building Canada Fund, work twinning part of the Trans-Canada, and the green transformation initiative I will be announcing later today at the Domtar Pulp Mill.

So there is great optimism about the next century for Dryden, just as there is for Canada.  Because, as I’ve said before, Canada will, and is, coming out of this recession faster, stronger, and in better position than any country on earth.

So we have much to celebrate here in Dryden today.  Because this centennial of a city with a storied past and a boundless future, mirrors the state of our country.

The values and virtues of the pioneers who built this city and our country are still driving Canada forward today.  They are anchored in our culture as deeply as our great nation is anchored in the ancient granite of the Canadian Shield.

Once again, Happy Birthday, Dryden.  Enjoy the great Canadian Snowbirds and the rest of the air show.

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