Theme: Celebrating Cultural Diversity

Good Morning everyone!

• It’s great to be here in Fort McMurray – I hope that you’re all enjoying this beautiful long-weekend with your families, and knowing this town, I’m sure that you’re all ready for a great Heritage Day party!
  
  
• Today is a great chance for us to get together and celebrate our heritage, our cultural diversity, and our strength!
  
  
• Northern Alberta as we know it has grown and evolved over thousands of years; from The Great Ancient Flood that originally shaped this land; to what we know today: the lush wilderness, the oil-rich deposits, and a dynamic & friendly, multicultural & prosperous region.
  
  
• We know from those who came before us that Fort McMurray’s history contains many truly amazing stories. These stories reflect the early First Nations settlements, and later the new communities built by people from across the Alberta, Canada and beyond. These stories are about Tradition and Progress; Sacrifices and the Pioneering Spirit; about Meeting Challenges and Moving in New Directions
  
  
• One story I know well is about a young women and mother who came to Fort McMurray looking for….(FKJ)
  
  
• These stories live on today because they have been told and re-told over the years by the thousands of people whose lives have been affected by this town. Those who only travelled through the region, but remember it fondly; those who found a land of new opportunity, and stayed for several years; and those – such as my mother, Frances Jean - who moved their families and their futures here hoping to start a new life.
  
  
• These voices and faces of Fort McMurray’s history have made it the proud, multicultural and hard-working community that it is today. They came from coast to coast and from countless places beyond our borders, and they left their marks, helping to make this proud community what it is today.
  
  
• Fast forward to the present: where we can take pride in the fact that today that the quality of life that we enjoy in our communities, workplaces, schools, and at home with our families, has become the best in the world, and that it continues to improve day by day.
  
  
• Our economy is proving resilient in a time of global economic uncertainty.
  
  
• Thanks to our brave and proud Canadian Forces our country is standing proud and once again we are a major player on the world stage.
  
  
• I am very proud of the role that our Forces play in making this a reality.  We should all feel proud to call ourselves Canadian. 
  
  
• We can all play our part in continuing to create this culturally diverse and amazing story of Northern Alberta. We can work positively within our communities and industries; build on our strengths; stimulate growth and progress, and to move forward with optimism to become the best that we can be.
  
  
• I am very proud to continue to bring Northern Alberta to Ottawa, and to represent the greatest region of Canada.